A Musical Interlude
by Greywolf
Summary: AU. It happened differently. Sam never met Danny until she saw his band perform at their college. But as different as things are, some never changed and some never will...
1. We Rock

**Author's Notes:** Well, it seems that the internet on campus is once again down. Damn you Sprint! So I have nothing to do today but write. And seeing as my thoughts are a jumbled mess, I'm putting onto paper anything I can think of, which is quite a lot let me tell you. I think my block is just about gone, and the ideas are pouring out to make up for lost time. I'll probably have carpal tunnel by the time the weekend is over.

I can't believe I'm bitching about a creativity spike...

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 1- We Rock

Samantha Manson was a sophomore at Sleepy Hollow College, which wasn't actually in the town of Sleepy Hollow where she lived. It was actually about an hour's drive away, and it was also equidistant from her old hometown of Amity Park. But that's neither here nor there. Sam was what you would call a Goth. She was a loner with an artistic, sarcastic, and brutally honest personality. But that wasn't to say she didn't have friends or a life. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Sam," her roommate Monica greeted as she walked into the room. They were an odd pair of friends, really. Monica was very outgoing, cheerful, and preferred logic to aesthetics. But the two of them got along fine anyway.

Sam glanced up from her sketchbook and tossed off a mumbled, "Hey," in response. She had to have this drawing completed and inked by the end of the week, and she absolutely hated procrastinating her work.

Monica smirked and tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind one ear. "You think I can tear you away from that sketchbook long enough to tell you what I found by the mailroom today?"

Sam smirked back and arched an eyebrow before putting on a fake thoughtful look and a sarcastic tone. "Oh gee, let me think..."

Monica didn't wait any longer; she just pulled out a small, folded up green leaflet from her pocket and tossed it into Sam's lap. "Here, just check it out."

Sam rolled her eyes once and set her sketchbook and pencil back down on the desk, which was covered in artistic supplies and Nightmare Before Christmas memorabilia, all neatly organized beside her laptop. She unfolded the leaflet and turned it right side up. Most of it was dominated by a black-and-white picture of five young men who looked about her age, all huddled toward the camera in dramatic poses. On the back left was a tall, skinny guy holding a pair of drumsticks in one hand and waving his fist at the camera with his eyes half-lidded. Beside him was another tall guy, this one with long dark hair to his elbows. He smirked at the camera with his arms folded over his chest and his hands formed into rock fists.

In the front left, kneeling down were two of the others. The one on the left was black and wore glasses and a beret. He had a Cheshire cat-worthy grin on his face and was winking at the camera. The other guy looked like he could have been European and had dark long hair down to his shoulders and a goatee. He wore a maniacal, toothy smile on his face as he pointed the headstock of his electric guitar at the camera.

Finally, in the center of the group, was the boy who stood out the most. He had pure white hair, except for his eyebrows, which were dark. He grinned confidently and pointed straight ahead at the camera with both hands, one extended out and the other further back, as if trying to connect with whoever might happen to be looking at the photo and make them join in on the fun he and the other four were having.

Sam studied the picture a moment before her eyes drifted down to the text below.

**Danny Phantom and the Phantasmic Four**  
Classic/Power Metal Covers Concert  
Friday, April 15 in Englund Lounge  
Featuring:  
**Danny Phantom-** Lead Vocals, Guitar  
**Technomancer-** Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals  
**Jack the Ripper-** Lead Guitar, Vocals  
**Bram Van Helsing-** Bass, Vocals  
**Poltergeist-** Drums, Vocals  
Songs from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Edguy, Children of Bodom, Savatage, Dio,  
Iced Earth, Lost Horizon, The Michael Schenker Group, and more...

"What do you think?" Monica asked. "You want to go? C'mon, you know you want to."

Sam normally wasn't a big fan of heavy metal. She usually preferred stuff more like The Cure and Blue Oyster Cult. But then again, the only bands she knew of on that list were Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Maybe there would be something good in the set list. Besides, judging by the look and stage names of the band, they might at least turn out to be a fun bunch to hang out with. Real metalheads were typically a pretty wild crowd, and had a hell of a lot more personality than the mainstream sheep whom Sam felt she crusaded against every day of her life. But that wasn't really important at the time. "Oh... why not?" Sam finally answered as she slouched into her chair. "Not like I'm doing anything else Friday."

"Sweet," Monica replied before heading to her own desk and setting her backpack down. "So, did you recognize any of the bands on that list?"

"Two," Sam answered as she went back to her sketchbook. "Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. They're okay."

Monica giggled slightly as she checked her e-mail. "My brother would have a shit-fit if he heard you say that. Bruce Dickinson is his hero."

Sam rolled her eyes and scoffed lightly. "I think Tim Burton is awesome, but that doesn't mean I'd call him my hero. I never understood why people do that."

Monica just shrugged, her eyes never leaving the computer screen. This was how most of their conversations went. They talked back and forth, but seldom made eye contact. It was as if they each carried on two trains of thought at once. To most observers, it would have looked very interesting. Their responses were the only things that showed that two girls were conversing, let alone aware of each other's existence. "I guess it's only natural. People need role models. Someone to look up to as an example. Heroes are how they find some kind of ideal to shoot for. It's why Batman's totally bad-ass, Superman's invincible, Elektra kicks ass, and Wonder Woman has a pair of back-breaking tits but can stand up straight."

Sam couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Never thought of it that way."

"It's nothing new under the sun," Monica commented with a shrug. "People always feel insecure in their identities to some extent. So they take the A-types and the individualists, put them up on a pedestal, and try to emulate them. It's what separates the leaders from the followers."

"True." Sam answered off-handedly. "Now I hope you see why I categorically disdain all things mainstream and popular."

"It's too bad I'm not an anthropology major" Monica remarked, the smirk on her face practically audible.

"Why's that?"

"I could do a whole case study on you. 'The Tribe Called Goth' by Monica O'Shaughnessy."

Sam chuckled again at that. "Be sure to insert the little blurb, 'Truth is Stranger than Fiction.'"

"Then it sounds like a movie."

"Yeah... We could make it the next Trekkies."

"Okay, I'm not sure if you were serious or if that was a joke."

"Pick one."

It was like a game of verbal Pong at this point. They both had the same off-hand tone as they exchanged back and forth with an uncanny rhythm.

"You're the anti-Christ of drama, you know that?"

"Kinda hard to be an anti-Christ of anything when you're not Christian."

"What would you prefer? The Antithesis of the Abstract Concept of Mental and Emotional Conflict Made Manifest?"

"It's got a nice ring to it."

And so it went on and on, back and forth for about a half-hour. The topics seemed to randomly shift on the most irrelevant tangents, to the point where it would be impossible for a latecomer to guess how the whole thing started. Most of Sam's conversations ended up that way, though. The only reason this one ended was because she had to get to her 4:00 photography class. The great thing about being a fine arts major was getting to pass college for doing exactly what your teachers in high school told you not to do in class.

Photography class was held in the basement of Ward Hall, and it wasn't really a classroom in the traditional sense. It was more of a common room with a bunch of old sofas with patches of duct tape on them here and there, little knick knacks scattered on various surfaces, past students' photography projects framed on the walls, and a single desk where the teacher sat. If only more classrooms could be like this. Sam took her usual seat on the brown couch beside her friend, Dave Hammond. "Hey, Dave," she greeted him in much the same manner as she did Monica.

"Hey," Dave responded back. "You hear about the band playing on Friday?"

News travels fast. Sam nodded and crossed her legs, causing her skirt to ride up a little higher. She didn't really mind, though. It wasn't as if Dave was about to put the moves on her anytime soon. Partly because she knew he thought of her as a little sister, but mostly because he was as gay as springtime. "Yeah. Monica showed me the leaflet by the mailroom."

"They made leaflets?" Dave asked in mild surprise. "Huh. I thought they were going to have the Activities Board send out an e-mail."

"You know them?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yup. I met them through Bram, their bassist. Nice guy. Too bad he's straight." Dave absently fiddled with his camera for a moment as Sam turned this information over in her head.

"Who's the one with the white hair?" Sam asked as a few more students began filing in.

"That's the eponymous Danny Phantom," Dave answered. "Real name's Danny Fenton. You'd like him. Kind of a klutz, but he means well."

"Sounds like a real show-stopper," Sam muttered with the sarcasm piled on thick.

"Don't count him short just yet," Dave replied with a knowing grin. "Guy's got a great voice. Good stage presence, too."

Sam lifted her brows and looked down at her camera in thought. Now her curiosity was starting to get the better of her. "Really? What about all these bands they're going to be covering? What kind of music is it?"

"Classic and power metal." Dave had a rather self-satisfied grin, knowing full well that he had her attention now. "They're all big fans of Edguy. Kind of a mixture of 80's metal with occult lyrics and symphonic music. Let's see... They're doing Children of Bodom, too. Jack's doing lead vocals for that. It's basically really aggressive Baroque music on keyboards and electric guitars with raspy, growled vocals."

Sam was hooked. She would have loved to hear more, but the teacher chose that moment to walk in and start class. Even though she was paying attention as usual, Sam was eagerly awaiting the end of the week. Friday couldn't come soon enough now.

Of course, universal law states that the more eagerly you await something, the more time seems to stretch out until it gets there. The week went by in a crawl, and Sam tried to pass the time by focusing on her projects and trying to learn more about this band. For some reason, she felt particularly curious about the lead singer. Maybe it was because he seemed to be individualistic, the way he died his hair white. How did she even know it was white, anyway? The photo didn't show color, so it could have been a really pale blonde. And why was she agonizing over something so irrelevant? It was difficult to explain, but Sam felt the strangest desire to want to meet this guy. And it wasn't just because he was fairly easy on the eyes, either. No, she had the weirdest feeling that she _had_ to meet him. There was no other way to say it.

Fortunately, time continued its linear movement and Friday at last arrived. Sam was feeling surprisingly excited about this as she and Monica made their way toward Englund Lounge in the College Center. "So, how long are they going to be playing again?" Monica asked.

"I think Dave said they would be up for two hours," Sam replied.

"Impressive." Monica checked her watch quickly. "We've got a few more minutes before the show starts. They're probably finishing up a sound check right now."

Sam pushed open the doors to Englund Lounge and sure enough, the small stage was set up and there was the band behind a slowly growing crowd of students. At the back, on a slightly raised platform, was the drum kit that had a pentagram emblazoned on the double bass drum. The drummer looked even skinnier than in the picture and had his blonde hair in a mullet.

On the right side of the stage were four keyboards, all neatly arranged, one on either side of the keyboardist and two in front of him stacked on top of each other. The musician himself was the black guy from the picture with the glasses and the beret.

The bassist stood on the opposite side of the stage. Holy shit, that guy had to be at least six-and-a-half feet tall. His bass looked like a regular guitar in comparison to his size. Speaking of his bass, it was one of the weirdest designs Sam had ever seen. There was no headstock, and the black body was a weird trapezoid shape.

Next to him was the lead guitarist. Upon closer inspection, he looked like he might be related to the bassist. They both had the same Eastern/Middle European features. The guitar he was currently tuning was silver and had the image of a black serpentine dragon winding across it.

Finally, there was Danny Phantom. Sam took a moment to study him more carefully than she had the others. He was about six feet tall and his hair was in fact dyed pure white. His bangs fell in front of his eyes, which to Sam's surprise were a luminous green. Probably contacts. He wore a black A-shirt and blue jeans, which partially covered black combat boots with silver ghost flames painted on the sides. He was tuning a white Les Paul; seemingly oblivious to some of the catcalls a few girls in the small crowd were giving him and the other band members.

As Sam and Monica joined the crowd, Danny looked up from his instrument and his eyes immediately locked with Sam's. It was a fairly unreal moment as she felt a shock go through her system. She felt as if something pivotal in her life had just happened. Something of extreme importance. But the feeling was so fleeting, that it was there and gone before she had a chance to concentrate on it. Instead, she merely stared into Danny's eyes a moment as he watched her with his lips slightly parted and the most curious expression on his face.

After a moment, Danny shook his head to clear it, and walked up to the microphone. "Good evening, Sleepy Hollow," he called out, eliciting cheers from the crowd. "We are Danny Phantom and the Phantasmic Four. And in the words of the legendary Ronnie James Dio... we rock!"

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** Well, there you go. About the only thing I got done of all the projects I started this weekend. Just gotta take what you can get sometimes.

Those of you who have read my bio will probably think that the "Jack the Ripper" character described in this chapter looks kind of like me. Well you're right. However, I really hate self-insertion, so when the band members start showing their personalities, you'll see that this character is nothing like the real me. I just wanted to use the look because... well, let's face it, I'm so metal that my balls clang together when I walk.

And in case any of you are worried about these new guys being featured too prominently, don't sweat it. I'm not a huge fan of fics where original characters start stealing the spotlight. Mostly because there aren't many authors who can pull them off very well. So the three original characters of the Phantasmic Four will be merely supporting cast who get a few minutes each in the sun where they get to show off a bit. Danny and Sam will remain the stars of the show, though, so no need to worry.


	2. Strange Wings

**Author's Notes: **So much writing to do, so little time to do it all in.

Any of you who have read Let the Music Be Your Master will probably recognize the style this chapter is written in. I hope my writing skills have evolved enough that I can properly describe the action of song scenes without sacrificing characterization and the like. It's a very tricky business, and I plan to (for now) confine it to this chapter alone.

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 2- Strange Wings

Sam started pushing her way through the crowd to get closer to the stage. She wanted a front row view of this.

"We'd like to open up tonight with a couple of songs off of Edguy's album Hellfire Club," Danny said enthusiastically. "This first one is called Down to the Devil." He stepped back and the whole band readied themselves.

There was a pause for only a beat before the keyboardist; Technomancer was the name on the leaflet, played a piano intro with a pre-recorded track of synth strings in the background. He played a soft, plaintive melody twice before the guitars, bass, and drums came in and he provided atmospheric effects. Danny had a wide grin on his face as he played the same melody from the piano on his guitar, making it sound more aggressive, yet still achingly expressive. The music paused for a beat and he stuck the pick into a plastic sheath attached to the body of his guitar and slid it under and around his back as he stepped up to the microphone.

_Roaming the plains  
Where a number is your name  
__In a palace  
__And you'll never find the door  
__Oh look into the mirror  
__Is it what you wanna see  
__Or just a cuddle toy  
__The vogue has washed the ashore_

Danny's voice was a mid- to high-range vibrato with a belting, theatrical quality. He embellished each lyric with dramatic and symbolic hand gestures to add emphasis while the guitarist and bassist, Jack and Bram, put their feet up on the footlights and pointed their instruments out into the crowd. The bassist was left-handed, so the two had switched places and were back-to-back so as not to risk feedback.

As the first verse ended, they broke apart and went to their individual microphones to join Danny in singing the next two lines before he continued solo.

_No I don't care what you say  
Into the darkness I plough my way__  
I'm striking out for paradise__  
To be the one I am_

Now _this_ was music Sam could really get into. About damn time there were more bands that understood what it meant to actually be an individual. These guys clearly got it, and they were all over it. The performance was very high on energy, but they managed to ham it up onstage without sacrificing musicianship.

Jack and Bram joined Danny in singing the chorus, letting him go solo on the first part of the third line.

_We're going down to the devil  
We are striking out for paradise  
__To bedlam below - down to the devil__  
The mad parade is coming home_

There was a quick bridge with just a guitar riff played by Jack, who actually mouthed out the notes and chords he was playing, before the second verse started up, Danny's gestures becoming even more dramatic.

_Can't you hear the sound  
As they make the hammer pound__  
Rusty nails into a coffin of you size_

He swung his arm down as if swinging a hammer, crossed his arms over his chest, stared out into the audience through half-lidded eyes. Sam had to wonder just how much experience he had at this. He was performing like a seasoned veteran of touring and gigging.

_To bury you alive  
You mature until you're ripe__  
Then they reap you  
When you're beautiful enough__  
In their eyes__  
_

_They lurk to wall in your belief  
Put up glass ceilings that you can't see__  
To break down the freak__  
They don't you to be_

Yes! Exactly! Someone who got it! Just this one song was enough to convince Sam that she made the right decision in coming to this concert. She was definitely going to stick around to talk with them after the show.

_We're going down to the devil  
We are striking out for paradise__  
To bedlam below - down to the devil__  
The mad parade is coming home_

Danny pulled his guitar back in front of him and played the intro riff again a step higher. Sam wasn't much of a musician, but she had a few lessons in guitar and vocals, and she had enough of an ear to be able to tell these things. Just as the riff ended, Jack scraped his pick up the bass strings of his guitar and launched into a solo as he stomped around and tossed his hair every which way.

Danny and Jack pivoted so that they were back to back and played a harmonized lead, occasionally smiling at the audience or each other over their shoulders, before Jack finished off the solo and resumed his place beside Bram and Danny removed his guitar and placed it in a stand beside the synthesizers.

Technomancer... Sam still felt a little weird mentally calling him by that stage name... Technomancer played the synth/piano intro once more before the full band came in again.

_We're going down to the devil  
We are striking out for paradise  
__To bedlam below - down to the devil  
__The mad parade is coming home_

Danny was now unburdened by his guitar and was really playing up the dramatic movement. He pumped his fist, carried the microphone stand around the set, leaned out into the audience as he sang. That was great showmanship.

The chorus was repeated, this time with Technomancer and Poltergeist also lending their voices, creating a powerful harmony. Danny sang out "To bedlam below," in a falsetto and pointed straight out into the audience as if leading a charge before waving the Horns in the air with his free hand.

_Down to the devil  
Striking out for paradise__  
To bedlam below - down to the devil__  
Mad parade is coming home_

Danny pulled the microphone out of the stand and stood up straight, throwing his head back as he sang the next line, the rest of the band continuing the chorus for him.

_Oh we're going down_

_(Down to the devil  
Striking out for paradise)_

They repeated this a second time with Jack providing two new lines.

_We're going down_

_(Down to the devil  
Mad parade is coming home)___

(Here's your invitation, your instigation  
Your damnation to the hellfire club) 

At last, they gave one more refrain of the chorus, leaning out toward the audience as much as their instruments would allow.

_Down to the devil  
Striking out for paradise__  
To bedlam below - down to the devil__  
Mad parade is coming home_

The music swelled and came to an end. The crowd burst into cheers and whoops as the band waved out to everyone with big grins on their faces. Sam was only slightly surprised to find herself shouting out with Monica.

"Thank you everybody!" Danny shouted. "My name is Danny Phantom. I'll be your frontman tonight, in case you haven't noticed. Let me take a moment to introduce you to the Phantasmic Four. On the keyboards, the Chewbacca to my Han Solo, Technomancer!"

Technomancer wiggled his eyebrows with a big grin. "Evening, ladies! Ever dated a rock star before?" That was met with a few whoops and catcalls to which he was only too happy to respond to. "God damn, I'm cool," he bragged in a very self-satisfied tone.

Danny chuckled and turned to his right. "On lead guitar, our resident wild man, Jack the Ripper!"

Jack stepped up to the microphone with an impish grin and hissed, "Repent your sins to me."

"Give it a rest, Lugosi," Technomancer quipped. That earned him a raised middle finger.

"Moving on," Danny interrupted, "we've got the Goliath of our rat-tag quintet, Bram Van Helsing on the bass."

Bram reached to the upper frets of his bass, and finger picked the string with three fingers, letting his fretting hand slowly slide down the neck until he hit an open string. "Yeah," he remarked off-handedly, "I'm hot. That's me pretty much." His voice was as deep as his instrument. If he grew a beard, he would have looked and sounded like a bear. Now that Sam thought about it, if he had a beard, he would look a lot like the guitarist, further convincing her that they were related in some way.

"And finally," Danny said as he turned and pointed to the drummer, "we've got the noisy ghost back here beating the drum skin, Poltergeist."

Poltergeist twirled his sticks over his head and bowed. "This is my dream job. I get to hit stuff and make noise."

Sam couldn't keep the grin off her face. Though Goths were always stereotyped as being depressed, morbid, and distant, she was a firm believer that if you're going to go out and do something, you may as well enjoy it. And these guys clearly loved doing this.

"Alright, we're going right into the next song," Danny announced. His eyes met Sam's again and they lingered a moment before sweeping across the crowd.

Every time that happened, Sam felt the strangest feeling inside of her. Her chest felt lighter, and it seemed a well of warmth started resonating from the exact center of her body. It was something new and a little unexpected. Something she wasn't quite sure what to make of yet.

"This one's kind of a long one. It's called The Piper Never Dies."

Danny wasn't kidding. Most songs would be nearly over by the time the intro to this one finished. But it was a damn good song. There wasn't a single boring moment. The whole band was putting their best into this, and Danny was working the crowd like a real showman. But that couldn't have prepared her for what happened over six minutes in. Jack was playing a solo with a wah pedal, and it lead into a verse with a new melody in which Jack and Bram sang back up to add a baritone/bass harmony to Danny's tenor.

_Balance on the edge of day and night  
Dive into haze and kiss the light  
__Many of the tales you've been told  
__Never written for the brave and bold_

As Danny sang the next lines, he didn't look to the audience, he looked straight at Sam. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but it felt like he was singing... to her!

_Come and take my hand tonight  
Come and sleep with me tonight  
__Certainly I'm gonna take you there  
__Showing you around everywhere_

_(Oh...)_

Technomancer and Poltergeist gave a choir-like harmony in back up throughout while Jack and Bram sang the verse a second time underneath Danny.

_Do you believe that you're devil-may-care  
As you jump into the fire  
__Do you believe that you're devil-may-care__  
As you jump into the fire_

_Dreamer, dreamer, dreamer, dreamer, dreamer  
Dreamer, dreamer, dreamer_

The rest of the song kind of passed in a blur. Sam was vaguely aware of Monica grabbing her arm excitedly and giggling that Danny was singing to her. Okay, so it wasn't just her imagination. She had never met this guy before though. Shouldn't she feel a little creeped out? Instead she felt kind of... giddy? That word popping into her head brought Sam's thought processes to a screeching halt. Did she really just describe herself as giddy? She did _not_ just describe herself as giddy, damn it!

Before she knew it, the song was winding to its close. Danny was twisting and gyrating his body to the melody, Jack was swinging his upper body wildly and tossing his hair out, Bram was wind milling his long hair, Technomancer had actually tossed off his beret from throwing his head back at the last note, and Poltergeist looked like a kid in a candy shop as he pounded at his drums. By the time it was over, they were all slightly pink in the face and sweating.

"Piper Never Dies, ladies and gentlemen!" Danny shouted as he raised the Horns over his head. "We're gonna shift gears for our next song. Jack will be taking over lead vocals for this one."

"Thanks, Danny," Jack said before switching to a new guitar. It was the same model, but had a metallic black finish. Danny also switched from his white Les Paul to a silver guitar similar to Jack's that was standing behind the keyboards.

"Why do they need different guitars?" Monica asked curiously.

"Probably a different tuning," Sam answered.

The two musicians gave a quick sound check and stepped up to the microphones. "Who here wants to hear some Children of Bodom?" Jack shouted to the audience. He was met with several loud yells and cheers. "Good enough. We're doin' Follow the Reaper!" With that, they launched into the song. The grinding riff met with a throbbing bassline, pounding drums, and jarring chorus hits on the keyboard. That was when Jack opened his mouth to sing. It certainly wasn't what Sam was expecting, though. He sounded like a damn snake! Whatever he was singing was totally lost in the rasp of his voice. She caught a swear word or two and occasionally something legible came up, but those moments were few and far between. For the most part, it was hard to believe those sounds were coming from a human throat.

Whenever they played the riff that preceded the chorus, Danny, Jack, and Bram would line-up, point the necks of their instruments out, and dip their upper bodies down and up again to the beat of the drum. It was a pretty cool effect, especially since they were arranged according to hair length. Bram was at the left, and his elbow-length hair was constantly airborne. Jack's shorter hair kept whipping and snapping back. Danny's bangs flipped back and forth across his face as if trying to show they could look just as cool as the long tresses of the other two.

The song had three solos. First was a short, harmonized lead between Jack and Technomancer, which lead into a speedy keyboard solo, which was followed up by a wah pedal guitar solo. It was amazing that these guys could pull all of this off while acting like such hams.

A final chorus came, and Jack finished with the last two words in a whisper. There was a pause as he raked his hand back through his hair and forlornly muttered into the microphone, "I was only twenty-one when I died." Sam was really surprised to find how much she was enjoying this.

The setlist progressed pretty interestingly. The next song was Heavy Metal Universe by Gamma Ray. Once again, Sam found herself with great respect for these guys. The lyrics of that song really appealed to her radical side.

_There ain't no way to stop us  
And you'll never kill our pride  
__'Cause it's not only music  
__It's a chosen way of life._

That was very much how she thought most of the time. Except, in a different context.

After that, they played N.I.B. by Black Sabbath. Classic tune. Danny made a big deal out of Jack and Bram's synergy in that song, and the two certainly lived up to it. Bram's bass work really stole the show on that one. His fingers glided effortlessly over the strings, making it look like it was as easy to him as breathing. Those two were like a machine, though. And Danny proved himself a versatile frontman with his slinky, sinuous movements and gestures along with his theatrical facial expressions.

Dr. Stein by Helloween. Pure by Lost Horizon. Danny and Jack traded off some impressive solos on those two.

Dracula by Iced Earth. Space Truckin' by Deep Purple. Excellent vocal and drumming performances.

Rainbow in the Dark by Dio. Nice guitar solo. Danny had a surprisingly emotional voice as well. He really got a lot of mileage out of his vocal chords.

Attack of the Mad Axeman by the Michael Schenker Group. The Wickerman by Iron Maiden. Very energetic performances. The latter featured three guitars rocking out at once.

The Old Gods Return by Blue Oyster Cult. Ah, familiar territory. Though Sam had always considered BOC to be hard rock more than metal. But whatever. When you get a gift like this, you don't question it.

Hearts on Fire by Hammerfall. The Fourth Legacy by Kamelot. Emerald Sword by Rhapsody. Those were kind of... cheesy. But in a good way. It was like DD metal, which was kind of an amusing concept all by itself.

Kiss of Judas by Stratovarius. Green Manalishi (with a Two-Pronged Crown) by Judas Priest. Nightfall by Blind Guardian. Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. They were really trying to cover their bases on this concert.

The next song produced a rather unexpected side effect in Sam. A Touch of Evil by Judas Priest. This was one of the few Judas Priest songs she'd heard that she really liked. It was at once spooky and menacing. And the band was really getting into it. They chose to do it with just one guitar though, and Danny really hammed up his performance. That was the problem.

_In the night  
Come to me  
__You know I want your Touch of Evil__  
In the night__  
Please set me free__  
I can't resist a Touch of Evil_

Danny was standing in a wide stance as he sang the chorus, his knees bent deep and his weight sinuously shifting from one side to the next. He kept a sultry look on his face, one hand holding the microphone close to his mouth, and the other slowly gliding over his upper body and forward leg in a very _obviously_ provocative manner. At the last chorus it was official. Between the dark atmosphere of the music, the sensually sinister lyrics, and Danny's suggestive performance... Sam had never been more turned on in her life. It was a little embarrassing. After all, she had never been one to lust after a guy like this. Matter of fact, she had never officially gone out on a date before. Aside from the fact that she hadn't met many guys she would consider as prospective boyfriends, she was rather disenchanted with the whole dating scene, mating dance ritual, hard-to-get bullshit that society was stupid enough to negatively reinforce. But now she was just about ready to jump this singer she had just met for the first time in her life, and he knew even less about her than she did about him. For god's sake, he didn't even know her name!

Danny tossed his bangs aside and wiped the sweat from his face with his forearm as he replaced the microphone in its stand. "Just two more songs to go, everybody." He turned away and put on his Les Paul. "Little change of pace for this one. I'll be doing lead vocals and lead guitar instead of just playing rhythm or trading off solos. I'd also like to make this a dedication."

Sam gasped as his eyes once again found hers and he smiled softly. "Hope you don't think I'm too forward," Danny quipped as he winked at her. "Strange Wings by Savatage, for the Gothic beauty up in front."

Sam could have sworn her heart skipped a beat. He just dedicated a song to her? Too forward? Gothic beauty? She had always imagined she would make any guy get intimate with the treads in her combat boots if he pulled a stunt like that, but now that it was actually happening...

The intro featured a solo complete with tapping before Jack switched his guitar to a clean channel and played the rhythm track while Danny sang.

_She is a maiden of the stormy skies, yeah  
I, I caught a glimpse from the depths of my eyes__  
Atop a black winged mare__  
Casting a wicked stare__  
She throws her head back__  
And rides into the night___

She flies strange wings  
Behind a thin disguise_She flies strange wings__  
Still tears she cries_

Well... if a guy was going to pick a song to sing to her, at least he picked one with some appropriate lyrics. A Clapton song would have just made Sam feel sick to her stomach from the sappiness.

_Oh I, I followed her  
To the brink of dawn, yeah__  
She, she took control of my very soul, yeah__  
She's still a mystery__  
In her arms I long to be__  
I don't know why__  
I turn and reach to the sky___

She flies strange wings  
Behind a thin disguise_  
She flies strange wings__  
Still tears she cries_

Danny nimbly dove into the guitar solo. Whereas Jack and Bram played their instruments with wild abandon, and Technomancer and Poltergeist played as if they couldn't possibly be happier doing what they were doing, Danny sang and played his guitar like it was right. It was hard to describe, he just seemed to love what he did. He made it look so easy. His body undulated, rocked, and twisted with the music in the most natural way. Sam had only seen this in a few other people. It was an extremely rare display of confidence and security.

At the end of the solo, the music faded, and for a moment it seemed the song was over. Before anyone had the chance to applaud, though, the band started up again, a huge grin splitting Danny's face.

_She flies strange wings  
Behind a thin disguise  
__She flies strange wings__  
Still tears she cries_

Danny played a lead line of the same three notes ascending and descending with just his fretting hand hammering on and pulling off the strings as he sang layered vocal lines with Jack who was using the very top of his range. Danny had stuck the pick in its holster and was now using his right hand to add his theatrical gestures.

_Strange wings, yeah  
(Strange wings)  
__Behind the starry skies__  
(She flies away, oh)__  
Strange wings, yeah, o-oh__  
Whoa, such strange wings__  
(Strange wings, yeah, yeah)__  
Behind a thin disguise__  
She flies strange wings__  
(O-oh, yeah)__  
Strange wings__  
(O-oh)__  
Still tears she cries_

The song faded out, and the crowd went berserk while Sam could have sworn her face went beat red. Monica grabbed her arm, excitedly gushing about how "lucky" she was. Despite all the confusion in Sam's head, there was one reaction she knew was natural. The corners of her lips turned up into one of her rare genuine smiles.

Danny smiled back her as he removed his guitar. "Thank you, everybody. We're gonna wrap up tonight with a change of pace. We're doing the metal remix of one of our favorite movie themes. Can you guess which one?" Danny put one hand to his ear and held the microphone out. After a moment of people shouting movie titles, he shook his head and stepped back. "No, no, none of those. Let me give you a clue... Who ya gonna call?"

The instant people started laughing and cheering, the band broke out into full swing with that familiar hook.

_Ghostbusters!  
If there's something strange in your neighborhood__  
Who you gonna call- Ghostbusters!__  
If there's something weird and it don't look good__  
Who you gonna call- Ghostbusters!_

_I ain't afraid of no ghost  
I ain't afraid of no ghost___

If you're seeing things running through your head  
Who can you call- Ghostbusters!_An invisible man sleeping in your bed__  
Oh, who can you call- Ghostbusters!_

Instead of singing it out, Danny held the microphone out to the audience and let them shout "Ghostbusters!" at the stage. Sam wasn't even a little surprised to find herself doing the same. After all, why not? It _was_ a good movie.

_I ain't afraid of no ghost  
I ain't afraid of no ghost  
__  
Who you gonna call- Ghostbusters!  
If you're all alone, pick up the phone  
__And call - Ghostbusters!  
_  
_I ain't afraid of no ghost  
I hear it likes the girls  
I ain't afraid of no ghost  
__Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

_Who you gonna call- Ghostbusters__  
If you've had a dose of a freaky ghost  
You'd better call - Ghostbusters!_

This was actually a pretty refreshing experience. Sam never would have admitted it in her teenage years, but now that she was twenty and had overcome her adolescent insecurities, she freely admitted that she was having fun.

_Let me tell you something  
Bustin' makes me feel good__  
_

_I ain't afraid of no ghost  
I ain't afraid of no ghost___

Don't get caught alone, oh no  
Ghostbusters!  
_When it comes through your door__  
Unless you just want some more__  
I think you better call - Ghostbusters!__  
Ow!___

Who you gonna call - Ghostbusters!  
Who you gonna call - Ghostbusters!_Who you gonna call - Ghostbusters!__  
Who you gonna call - Ghostbusters!_

The song ended and everyone broke out in whoops and cheers. Sam whooped and applauded herself. The band took a bow and waved. "Good night everybody!"

As the group began packing up and disconnecting their equipment, the crowd began slowly drifting out. Sam on the other hand decided to stick around. She needed to talk to Danny and she wasn't going to go until she had answers.

"Sam, you coming?" Monica asked as Sam leaned up against the nearest wall.

"I'll be back later," Sam answered off-handedly.

Monica put on a sly grin and glanced up to the stage. "Oh, I see. Wanna talk with your admirer over there. He's cute. Have at him, Sammie."

Sam turned to glare at her roommate, but Monica was already heading for the door. Since the target of her annoyance was gone, she turned to the source of her confusion. She caught Danny staring at her before he went back to packing his two guitars away.

The room was just about empty now, so Sam decided to make her move. She walked up to the stage and the band members all looked to her at once. She smiled embarrassedly, one hand fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Hi." Damnit, could she possibly have botched that up any worse?

"Hey," Danny responded with a small smile. "Sam, right?"

That came out of left field. "H-how did you know my name?" Sam asked, mentally slapping herself for stuttering.

"Dave told me," Danny replied. "Said you might be here tonight. He's told me a lot about you."

"Oh." Sam felt a blush creep up into her cheeks and fought the urge to twist her body like a little girl. "Hey, uh... that song... The one you dedicated. Was that... Was that really for me?"

Danny himself blushed a little and smiled embarrassedly. "Actually, yeah."

Sam tried to contain the smile, but it still forced its way out anyway. Damn, her lips were persistent. But this was too awkward, too spontaneous. She needed a chance to duck out and gather her thoughts. "I need to get back, but... do you have a pen?"

"Gotcha covered," Technomancer piped up as he pulled a ballpoint pen from one of the pockets in his cargo pants and tossed it to Danny who deftly caught it.

He handed Sam the pen and she took him by the wrist and wrote her cell phone number on his palm. "Call me soon, okay?" She handed him the pen back and smiled before walking off.

"See ya," she heard Danny call as she headed for the door.

Once she was out of Englund Lounge, Sam released a breath he didn't know she was holding. She had never gotten that nervous around a guy before. Why now? She had meant to try and figure out why it felt so important to meet him, but one look into those green eyes and she had forgotten all about that. Maybe later she could figure this out. What she needed right now was caffeine.

Sam headed for the pub and grabbed a bottle of Mountain Dew, the only decent drink Pepsi ever made. As she headed out of the pub toward the dorms, all she could think about was Danny, the concert, Danny, the new bands she'd have to look into, Danny... Trite as it sounded, her thoughts kept going back to the singer. It felt like a scene out of one of those really terrible romantic comedies. Expect in this one, Julia Roberts was playing a Goth college student... Sam was really glad she didn't say that aloud, even if no one was around to hear it.

Now, irony is a funny thing. As is the timing that the universe seems to hinge on. Sam left the dining hall where the pub was located and rounded the corner toward Radcliffe Hall where her dorm room was when she saw Danny and the band carrying the last of their instruments out of the college center across the way. They didn't notice her, seeming to be absorbed in their conversation. But what happened next...

Sam saw Danny abruptly stop in his tracks and straighten up as if shocked by something. The others seemed to have postures of exasperation and resignation. There was a brief exchange and Danny set the lights he had been carrying down and- holy shit!

Sam dropped her soda with a gasp and her eyes went as wide as her mouth, which had just dropped open. Danny shot straight up in the air and started to fly, his legs vanishing into a wispy, silver-grey cloud trailing below his waist as his outfit fluidly morphed into a full-body suit.

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** If you took out all the lyrics, this would probably be a fairly standard-length chapter for me.

Don't expect an update on this for a while. I've got so many other things I need to be working on.

**robin and star fan:** You know how I just ended this chapter talking about irony and universal timing? Weird, huh?

**Short n' Simple:** It's pretty difficult to strike the right balance, but you get used to it.

**LaBOBuren:** This is another chapter story, don't worry.

**amiee:** I'm hoping to keep the level of quality in this one. I'm still kind of a newcomer to this series and I'm playing catch-up fast.

**blue:** At this point, I'd just be repeating what I said above.

**Lady Katreina:** As a power metal junkie, I'm of the mindset that heavy metal is a way of life to be embraced and lived to the fullest. Can't remember where I was going with this, but...


	3. Gypsy

**Author's Notes:** (sigh) Too much work, not enough hours in the day.

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 3- Painkiller

Sam was seriously questioning her sanity. First of all, it was surreal enough that a hot guy seemed romantically interested in her despite having met her only once, and dedicated a song to her on the spot. But seeing said hot guy take off into the night sky like his stage persona's namesake was just beyond weird. Sam liked to think she had an open mind, but even for her this was a hard pill to swallow. It's a good thing she covered it up from Monica, or she never would have gotten a moment's peace.

Which brought Sam to today. It being a Saturday, she had nothing to do. She had all her projects done, and was free to spend the whole weekend trying to figure out just what the hell it was she had really seen. Sam grabbed her cell phone in case Danny decided to give her a call and decided to begin her search for the mysterious singer by doing a quick sweep of likely hangouts for a musician. She got as far as the rehearsal spaces in Woolencroft Hall when her phone went off to the tune of the Happy Tree Friends. "Hello?" she asked curiously as she flipped the phone open.

"Sam?" That voice.

"Danny?" Talk about convenient.

"The one and only," Danny replied, his voice sounding very cheerful. "Hey, uh... the band and I were going out to eat at the Mandarin Garden for lunch in an hour. You want to come with?"

Well, Sam had been hoping to corner him and go straight for the jugular, but with the others around she would need to use a more subtle approach. At least this gave her a chance to find out whether or not she really was crazy before confronting Danny about what she thought she saw. "Sure. Where do you want to meet?"

An hour later and Sam found herself waiting outside of Radcliffe Hall by the gazebo. She slipped her sunglasses on as the sun came out from behind the fluffy white clouds and bathed the hilly campus in warming light. Two squirrels darted along the grass, chasing after one another straight up into a towering oak tree as a soft spring breeze gently stirred the foliage and created a soothing whisper in the air that mingled with the conversations of other passing students who were out enjoying the day with friends or significant others. Did it always have to be so fucking cheerful out? They hadn't had a nice thunderstorm in weeks. Maybe she'd get lucky and there would be a solar eclipse.

The sound of approaching voices alerted Sam to a group intruding on her grouching over the weather and she turned to look over her shoulder. There they were. Danny, Technomancer, Jack, Bram, and Poltergeist... or whatever the hell their real names were. At first, Sam was a little surprised to see Danny. He looked much different in street clothes. Of course, the Edguy T-shirt was kind of a give-away. But perhaps what was more shocking were the physical changes. For one thing, his skin looked much fairer, but that could just be because of the lighting last night. His eyes were now a sparkling blue and his hair was pitch black as if someone had dumped ink all over his head. The haircut and facial features were about the only things that allowed her to recognize him.

Danny's blue eyes locked on her and his smile widened as he waved over to her. Sam smiled back and got up to meet them all half way. "Hey, Sam!" Danny greeted enthusiastically. "Glad you could make it." There was something unusual about his demeanor. It was a change from last night, but it was difficult to place. It was like he was testing the waters or something. "I want you to meet the rest of the guys. This is Tucker Foley," he said, pointing to the boy she had up until now known as Technomancer.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Tucker beamed to which Sam nodded and smiled in reply.

Danny then gestured to the guitarist and bassist. "These two are Jack and Bram Panek."

"Oh, you guys are brothers or something?" Sam asked conversationally.

"Yeah," Jack answered. "Believe it or not, Bram is my little brother by one year."

Sam arched a brow at that. "Little" is not a word she would have used to describe Bram.

"I get this a lot," Bram bemusedly remarked and folded his arms over his chest.

"And of course Paul Burns," Danny finished, gesturing toward the blonde drummer.

"Dave's told us a lot about you," Paul said in a very friendly voice.

Sam smiled embarrassedly at all the attention being placed on her and looked at Danny. "So... what restaurant did you say we were going to, again?"

**-x-**

Danny's mind was going about a mile minute. He had wanted to meet Sam ever since Dave had first told them all about her. The picture he had shown them from last year's freshmen orientation didn't do her justice. She was gorgeous! But she didn't have that attitude about her like she was aware of it. Danny had figured out that the whole reason he had felt so awkward around pretty girls growing up is because, more often than not, they knew they were good looking and held everyone else to... rather unfair standards. It was that feeling of being judged that always made him feel so unsure. But with Sam, he didn't feel judged in the least. That made things a little easier, at least.

They all decided to walk to the Mandarin Garden since the weather was nice. That, and the car wouldn't be able to hold six people. Comfortably, anyway. And Danny was still feeling the after-effects of last night's fight following the concert. And the van was only a two-seater. He ended up so lost in thought over it that before he realized it he had wandered off the curb just as a car was coming at him. He felt a hand grab his own and pull him back as the driver swerved slightly and flipped him off with a few shouted obscenities.

"You okay?" Sam asked, and Danny realized it was her who had pulled him back. His hand was still in hers, and he felt his face turn warm.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just kind of a klutz," he admitted.

"So I've heard," Sam replied bemusedly. She didn't let go of his hand as she stepped out into the street, now devoid of cars, and they all crossed to the opposite side.

Jack smirked and whistled at the two. "Damn man, you're getting over your shyness fast," he teased, pointing to their linked hands. "At least your taste has improved since Paullina."

Danny shot Jack a glare, wondering if they would ever let him live that down, as Sam let go of his hand and gave him a quizzical look. Uh oh. He knew that look on women. Figuring out how a girl's mind worked was less psychology, and more tactics and strategy. It was an art and science that required keen observation, nerves of steel, quick verbal skills, and a lot of luck. That particular look could only mean one thing: awkward moment, incoming. Impact in 3, 2, 1...

"Who's Paullina?" Sam asked with a mixture of curiosity and accusation. Detonation imminent. Impending threat level to the prospects of a potential relationship. Battle stations.

"Danny's first crush in high school." Thanks a fuckin' lot, Bram. Threat level escalating.

"He got over it in sophomore year, though," Tucker added. Threat contained, damage minimized. "Good timing, too. That woman was a bitch." Containment compromised. Yellow alert!

"Total tramp," Paul added in agreement. Threat multiplying.

"Skank," Jack quipped. Damage control. Plotting course of action to argue in self-defense.

"Slut." Bram again. Scrapping course of action. Regroup and set up for Plan B.

"That bad, huh?" Sam asked dryly.

"Let me put it this way," Tucker said with a smirk. "She was so shallow, a puddle of her wouldn't be enough to drown a flea."

Sam snorted slightly with amusement and glanced over the rim of her shades at Danny. Initiate Plan B: Admit to wrongs and have the dignity to look embarrassed about it.

"Not my finest moment," Danny conceded with an abashed sigh. Rule number one of interacting with the opposite sex: Women are always right, men are always wrong. Corollary A: The ability of a man to admit his wrongs is considered by some women a mark of quality as a prospective romantic partner.

"We all make mistakes," Sam off-handedly remarked with a shrug. Mission accomplished. Threat neutralized.

"Look on the upshot," Tucker helpfully piped in, draping an arm over Danny's shoulder, "you could have ended up like Dash."

"That's true." Danny glanced over at Sam again and smirked. "Dash Baxter was the jock who tormented everyone lower on the social ladder. He knocked Paullina up and dropped out of school in senior year."

"Sounds like a real winner," Sam muttered sarcastically. "Where are you guys from, anyway?"

"Amity Park," Danny casually answered.

"Really?" Sam slipped her shades down the bridge of her nose. He had never seen violet eyes like hers. They were hypnotic. "That's where I was born. My parents moved us to Sleepy Hollow when I was little."

"Looks like Jack and I are the odd ones out," Bram muttered with a small grin.

"How so?" Sam asked.

Jack tossed his hair over his shoulder as he answered. "We were actually born in Hungary. Moved to the States shortly after Bram was born."

The rest of the walk to the restaurant involved the long story on how they had all met. From Danny and Tucker becoming friends in elementary school, to the music lessons they took for fun in middle school. Then meeting Paul in sophomore year and deciding to get a band together, which promptly led to them meeting Jack and Bram. And taking a year off after high school so that Bram could graduate and they could all go to the same school and keep making music together. Splitting the storytelling between five young men might have been a mistake however. Especially with their varying personalities. Tucker and Jack occasionally got into (ironically) unspoken contests to see who could talk the most about nothing, which got old really fast.

The Mandarin Garden was a family-run Chinese bistro a few blocks from the campus. Best Far Eastern food in town. The band had only been here for a little over a semester and they already were on a first-name basis with the owners. Speaking of whom, no sooner had they entered the sparsely furnished but charming restaurant than the head of the family immediately greeted them.

"Danny!" a short, elderly Chinese woman shouted as she emerged from the swinging doors leading to the kitchen and enveloped Danny, Tucker, and Paul into a bear hug. Jack and Bram were spared because she couldn't reach them.

"Hey, Kim," Danny answered, returning the hug quickly before he and his friends were released.

"Oh, where have you lot been? We miss you. And look at you all! You're wasting away. Don't they feed you at that college? When was the last time you had a decent meal, Paul?" Danny couldn't help but chuckle at Kim's verbal deluge. She seemed to think that food fixed everything. And given the kind of stuff her family could whip up, Danny was slowly starting to come around to that philosophy. Still, Paul was the only one of the group who looked skinny. Tucker was of about a normal weight for his height and build, as was Jack. And Bram was a fitness nut with shoulders like a Cadillac. Though Danny noted with some amusement that Sam was a little on the thin side herself. Kim was bound to target her at any moment.

"And who's your skinny friend here?" Kim asked as she looked at Sam. Saw that coming a mile away. "My, my, my, my, my. Look at you. You're thinner than the rice paper in the kitchen."

Sam's eyes widened behind her shades. "I-"

"Ah-ah," Kim scolded. "No back talk. It's not healthy for a young lady like yourself to be looking like a skeleton."

"Hey, I-"

"Not another word," Kim interrupted, placing a finger over Sam's lips. "Let's get you all a table before a breeze comes along and sweeps your lady friend away."

Danny was trying very hard not to laugh as they were seated. He opened up his menu and chuckled under his breath with the rest of the band as Kim darted off to the kitchen with Sam staring after her in shock. "Kim's always like that," he explained. "She's like a grandmother to us."

Sam didn't say anything. She just removed her shades and looked at her menu. "Chicken... pork... beef... Isn't there anything on here that doesn't involve slaughter?"

Danny gave Sam a questioning look to which she just rolled her eyes. "I'm a vegetarian," he sighed in exasperation.

"Oh," Danny responded. "That explains why you look so- ow, crap!" Sam had crossed her legs rather quickly in a seemingly innocent movement and connected one of her combat boots with his shin in the process. For a tiny thing, she was surprisingly strong.

"You were saying?" Sam asked challengingly.

"I was gonna say 'slender,'" Danny grumbled. Actually, he was going to say "skinny," but he decided it would be better to feign otherwise. That kick hurt, damn it! Yes, he didn't want to ruin his chances of impressing her, but more importantly he liked having flesh on his bones.

Of course, his word choice took the wind out of her sails in a hurry. Sam blushed lightly and buried her face in the menu. He peered at her clandestinely and noticed that her eyes weren't moving. She mumbled a soft apology and tried very hard not to look at him.

Tucker winked, pointing his hand like a gun, and clicked his tongue through the side of his mouth twice. "Smooth, Casanova." His eyes suddenly widened as his body recoiled and he leaned into the table, his hands shooting down underneath the tablecloth. "Ow, son of a bitch! What the hell you got in those boots, woman? Bricks?"

Sam glared at Tucker over her menu. "You deserved that." She then went back to reading.

Danny flipped his menu over to the second page and leaned over to Sam. "The vegetables section is on the next page," he told her, gesturing toward his own as if to prove he was right.

She glanced at him in mild surprise then turned the page and nodded her thanks. Apparently, she was feeling a little awkward, since she initiated small talk as soon as they ordered their food, asking what kind of influences they had. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. Danny was able to keep himself in check, at least. Tobias Sammet of Edguy and Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden were his biggest vocal and lyrical influences, Rudolph Schenker and Stevie Ray Vaughan were his main guitar influences. She didn't need to know about all of them. After all, it was a pretty big list. But the rest of the band... As soon as Danny was done speaking, none of them could contain their enthusiasm at getting to brag and started talking at once.

Tucker of course went on about how cool Tangerine Dream, Buckethead, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and Stratovarius were. Jack proceeded to verbalize his idol worshipping of Chuck Schuldiner, Michael Schenker, Charlie Hunter, and Glenn Tipton. Bram explained that Geezer Butler and Jack Bruce inspired him to take up the bass. Paul enthusiastically talked about his love of Rush, Genesis, Deep Purple, and The Police. Information overload.

Fortunately for Sam, the tsunami of musical geekitude was interrupted by the arrival of food. There were only three things in the world that Danny appreciated more than a hot plate of orange beef, white rice, and paper-wrapped chicken: music, beautiful women, and Sega Dreamcast. Not necessarily in that order.

As they were eating, Danny noticed Sam continually staring at him from the corner of her eye. Was she checking him out? Hot damn! It was strange, though. He'd had crushes on girls before. And he'd gotten them a lot faster than this on several occasions. But this one... this one was different somehow. This one just felt... important. Like this was one that he really couldn't afford to screw up. Danny still couldn't believe he had the balls to dedicate that song to her last night. He'd have to make a move soon if he wanted to...

His thoughts came to a screeching halt as he felt Sam's boot touch his leg again. Only this time, she wasn't kicking him. The side of her boot slowly shifted up his leg then down it again before she uncrossed her legs and continued eating as if nothing had happened. Did that really just happen?

Regardless of whether or not it did, something else happened that hadn't in over a year. He felt that familiar faint, soothing chill in his arm and his chopsticks passed right through his now-invisible hand onto his plate. Tucker saw it and his eyes went wide. Shit! Shit, shit, shit!

Danny focused quickly on restoring his arm and it went solid again as he picked up his chopsticks. He glanced over at Sam to see her staring at him with her eyebrows trying to climb up into her scalp. "Uh..."

Before he could stutter out an excuse, Sam reached out and grabbed his arm. She studied it carefully a moment with her brow furrowed in confusion. Again, shit! She saw! Time to stall and do some fast-talking. "Sam, what are you-"

Talking didn't seem to do much good as she gave his arm a sharp pinch. Which, with her long lacquered nails, stung more than you'd think it would have. "Ow! Sam, seriously, what did I do?"

Sam fixed him with a glare, the entire table now focusing their attention on the two of them. Thank god that the restaurant was empty right now. "Danny, don't insult my intelligence. I know what I saw."

Uh oh. Stick to your story. Keep faking it. Danny looked over at his bandmates and arched a brow. "Does anybody have any idea what the hell she's talking about?"

Before any of them could answer, Sam cut in. "I saw you flying last night."

No amount of self-control could have helped here. She saw him fly. She saw him fly! His breath abruptly caught in his throat at the revelation that his cover had just been blown.

"Holy shit, dude," Jack deadpanned. Yeah, "holy shit" was right.

**-x-**

Sam sat on Danny's bed and mulled over all of this new information in her head. Fortunately, it was a single room in a suite and the other roommates were out so no one would interrupt. The band was out in the common room standing guard anyway. "Okay... Let me see if I got this straight. Your parents are parapsychologists with an obsession for ghost hunting, and over six years ago they made a gateway to Purgatory."

"Actually, we like to refer to it as the Ghost Zone," Danny corrected.

"Same difference." Sam rubbed her temples slightly. "When they first tried it out, it didn't work. So you decided to be a good son and see if you could help. In trying to fix it, you ended up in an accident that bonded your DNA with ectoplasm. You could transform from a human into a ghost at will and got superpowers to boot."

Danny nodded slightly and dropped his head onto his forearms, which rested on the back of the desk chair he was straddling the seat of.

"Over the next six years, you decided to be a superhero, but kept a low profile to avoid publicity, even avoiding telling your family up until the second year. In the process, you ended up with an arch-nemesis in your dad's old college buddy, Vlad Masters, who is also half-ghost and has had superpowers for over twenty years. And this brings us to today where you're using your Danny Phantom persona to have a little fun with your band while still fighting ghosts."

Danny glanced at the ceiling in thought and nodded. "That's about the size of it."

Sam watched him for a moment. "And how can I be sure you're not just telling me a bogus story to cover up something else?"

"Sam... think about it," Danny flatly droned. "If I wanted to lie to you, don't you think I could have come up with something better than that?"

"Touché." Sam crossed her legs and leaned back on the heels of her palms.

"By the way," Danny mumbled, "what was with the, uh... I mean, after you kicked me, when you were... I mean, were you trying to..."

It took a moment, but Sam finally figured out what he was getting at. "No!" she answered quickly. A little too quickly. "I was trying to see if your legs were solid. I saw them turn into smoke last night, so I wanted to know if I was losing my mind."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. Was he hoping that she really was flirting with him? She felt herself blush at the thought.

"I do appreciate you being honest with me," Sam admitted after an awkward silence. "Any chance you could show me these ghost powers of yours sometime?"

Danny looked up at her in mild surprise, brow furrowed in confusion. "So this doesn't creep you out?"

Sam smiled softly. "I'll admit it's a little weird, but I'm not one to talk. In fact, it sounds like you've got a pretty sweet deal."

Danny scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, going out every night to kick around ghosts, having to dodge the cameras so nobody figures out it's me, dealing with a rival with the hots for your mother along with twenty years of experience and a multi-million dollar fortune on you..."

"Getting to be a hero," Sam interrupted, "being able to rest easy knowing you're doing the right thing, having a rare gift that sets you apart." She smiled at him again, amused by the look on his face. "Sounds like you've got it better than you think."

Danny smiled back and shrugged as he blushed. "I guess. You realize though that you still can't tell anybody about this. The only other people in the world who know besides the guys are my sister, my parents, and Plasmius."

Sam rolled her eyes and straightened her back haughtily. "I'm a Goth. Secrecy is in my genes." She relaxed again and chuckled lightly with Danny. "Now, about showing me those powers?"

Danny's eyes lit up with a very mischievous glint. Sam had to wonder just what was going through his mind. "Well, I can't exactly go showing off. So we'll make it a trade-off. You know, make it worth my while."

Where was he going with this? Sam arched a brow and gave him a somewhat critical look. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, nothing big," he answered dismissively. "Just do me a favor to even things out. Maybe just... dinner and a movie?"

It was the weirdest damn thing. Sam was typically pretty subdued, but right at that moment, she swore she could have danced. Why was she getting so worked up about this? She'd known Danny for less than 24 hours and somehow she seemed to have convinced herself she had a crush on him like a little schoolgirl. And what's more, Danny's face was the strangest mixture of emotions. All at once, he looked smug, surprised at himself, hopeful, and nervous.

A few moments passed as Sam tried to digest all of this, and the hope in Danny's face began fading. "I-it's cool," he stuttered. "Just a shot in the dark."

"I'd love to." Did she really just say that out loud?

Danny did a small double take, which Sam found herself thinking was absolutely adorable. "Really?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow good for you?" She smiled softly and once more crossed her legs and canted her head in what she hoped was a tantalizing pose. Sam wasn't exactly used to "showing off the goods" as Monica had once put it.

It must have worked though, because Danny went mute and was doing a very bad job of trying to keep his eyes on her face. As twisted as it sounded, Sam was kind of enjoying this. She was never overly concerned about her appearance, but the fact that she was pretty enough to hold a guy's attention like this made her feel kind of... sexy, empowered, in control. That wasn't to say she wanted to go around flaunting her sexuality. It was just kind of a newly discovered guilty pleasure.

"Uh... y-yeah, tomorrow's great," Danny answered, suddenly snapping out of his trance. "I'll pick you up at five?"

"At the gazebo," Sam added with a nod. "Do you think you could show me one or two powers as a down-payment?" she asked slyly.

Danny returned her question with an equally sly smile. He stood up and crossed his legs at the ankles as he leaned one hand on his desk and put the other at his hip. A ring of soft blue emerged from his waist and split into two moving up and down. As the light passed, his body transformed into the Danny Phantom she had seen on stage last night. The rings dissipated once they reached the ends of his body. His clothes had changed into a black and white jumpsuit with boots and gloves, and his eyes did indeed glow of their own light.

"Nice," Sam muttered appreciatively. "Very impressive on its own."

Danny allowed a cocky smirk to grace his lips. "It's nothing special." He narrowed one eye, and his jumpsuit morphed into the combat boots, blue jeans, and black tank top from last night. "Figured that out three years ago." He took his hand from his hip, blew on the knuckles, and made a show of brushing them off on his chest. Again, there seemed to be a change in his demeanor. When he was Danny Fenton, he was neurotic but easy-going. As Danny Phantom, he seemed much more bold and charismatic. Perhaps his ghost half was some sort of totemistic key to helping him get over his fears? Feh, this was exactly why Sam decided to major in art and not psychology.

"Your male ego is showing," Sam teased. "What else can you do?"

Danny looked up at the ceiling in thought and began ticking off powers on his right hand. "Let's see, there's flight, invisibility, intangibility, ectoplasmic blasts, ectoplasmic weapons and shields, overshadowing, cloning..."

Before Danny could continue, voices came from the common room. His eyes widened and he quickly transformed back to his human form. He and Sam stared at the door a moment, unable to make out just what the conversation out there was like. A minute later, music started playing. "Oh no," Danny grumbled.

He walked over to the door and swung it open, stepping out into the hall and towards the common room with Sam following behind him. Amidst three of Danny's roommates were the Phantasmic Four, jamming on air instruments to some metal song that was playing on a jambox that was currently hooked up to an mp3 player.

"Wild Child, Scorpions cover?" Danny asked with a raised brow.

The three roomies all turned around at Danny's voice. A girl with blonde hair down to her butt and a lot of Celtic jewelry pointed a thumb back at the four musicians. "These guys are in your band?" she asked skeptically.

"Danny Phantom and the Phantasmic Four," Danny answered with a nod.

"Right," a boy with short red hair said flatly as he watched the four musicians continue uninterrupted. "So... you got a mullet-eer, a technophile, a psychopath, and an Abrams tank." He then looked over at Sam who smiled nervously. "And now a Goth. She's part of the band now, I assume?"

Danny half-frowned and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, this is Countess Bathory on the kazoo," he grumbled with the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice. "I find it just a little disconcerting that you guys immediately leap to the conclusion that a girl I'm with is one of those lunatics." Speaking of whom, they were really getting into it. Jack had jumped up on the coffee table and was "picking" his air guitar with his teeth. "Didn't it ever occur to you that I managed to get a date?"

The blonde girl shook her head with a wry smile. "Danny, you're a nice guy, but honestly... You're also a social retard, and shy guys aren't known for burning up the dating scene."

Sam smirked and draped an arm around Danny's shoulders. "Actually," she drawled in a rather smug voice, "I _am_ his date for tomorrow night." _That_ got their attention.

The three roommates and the band stopped and stared at the two. Danny looked at Sam with a light blush, then grinned and put an arm around her waist. Though his light build wouldn't have suggested it, he was actually pretty strong.

"Yes!" Jack shouted after a moment and pointed at Tucker. "You owe us five bucks!" He then turned to Bram and the two did a fist pound handshake.

"I hope you guys and Mr. Lincoln are very happy together," Tucker grumbled as he fished a pair of fives out of his wallet.

"I hate you all," Danny muttered.

"Come on, Danny!" Bram waved. "Jam with us! We gotta party."

The band restarted the song from the beginning and resumed playing air instruments and singing along to the song. Danny rolled his eyes once more with a lopsided grin and after a brief moment of internal conflict joined them.

The guy with short red hair and the other guy, this one with an emo sweep, just left the room while the blonde girl walked up to Sam. "I'm Jesse, by the way."

"Sam." The two of them then looked back to the band as they continued jamming. "I'm guessing you didn't see the concert last night."

"Nope," Jesse answered. "They always like this?"

"I can only assume," Sam replied. "I just met them twenty-four hours ago."

Jesse raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sam from the corner of her eyes. "One day, and you're already dating Danny?"

Sam felt her face flush and gave Jesse a small glare. "I'm not _that _kind of girl," she growled.

Jesse held up her hands defensively and shook her head in resignation. "Not my business, anyway."

Damn right it wasn't her business. Then again, why was Sam feeling so defensive about this? Ugh. What a day.

**Author's Notes:** Fortunately, I've managed to clear all of my work for this week, so I have the whole weekend to sit around and write whatever I feel like. This one was supposed to be longer, but I figured there's enough to it already for one chapter. And the other scenes I wanted to stick in here actually work better later in the story. So there.

Bonus points to anyone out there who can catch the relevance of the title of this chapter. And if you know who Countess Bathory was without having to look it up, go buy yourself a cookie.

Also, did anybody catch the new episode, Life Lessons? I actually thought it was a really great moment for characterization. Valerie shows positive development, Danny undergoes a little self-improvement while taking his lumps, we see Sam's softer sentimental side, and... well Tucker is kind of the exception. And when Sam referred to the flour-baby as Lillith, I found that particularly funny. Though I've gotta say, I miss Skulker's old voice. Anyway...

**Fushigi Aoi Tenshi:** And my musical crusade marches on.

**Short 'n Simple:** As I said, it's a pretty entertaining show. Possibly Butch Hartman's best so far.

**LaBOBuren:** Looks like it. My approach to writing is very often like Steven Spielberg's approach to making the Indiana Jones movies. Which is to say, I have a plot, a storyboard for about half of the plot, and then I start making shit up as I go.

**Kkwy:** I trust this chapter answers your question. Danny's the only ghost amongst them.

**Vixxii:** Gotta say I never quite had that comparison in mind.

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** More proof that the universe hinges itself on convenient timing and irony.


	4. Big City Nights

**Author's Notes:** As I write this, I am _so_ looking forward to spring break. This will probably be posted sometime after that, meaning late-March, early-April. If I post it earlier... yay!

One other quick vent to get out of my system. Why the hell won't people learn basic grammar! The whole site is overrun with stories with terrible formatting. You're not supposed to have two characters talking in the same paragraph, damn it! And while I'm on the topic, are people even _trying_ to properly live up to the character's personalities? So many of these fics portray them all as bland and 2-dimensional or just plain completely out of character. Argh!

Okay, I'm cool.

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 4- Big City Nights

Danny combed his hair out for the fourth time that hour. He kept going back to the bathroom to check on his appearance, even though there was still plenty of time before he had to meet Sam and he had _been_ ready to meet her since 9 AM. That was the first time he hadn't slept in on a weekend morning in two years. And for the Phantasmic Four, it was a little unnerving.

They were all seated in the common room with some of Danny's roommates watching DVD episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Jesse's TV which they had lugged out of her dorm. Between Tucker's rambling, Bram's laughter which sounded like rolling thunder, Jack's hitting on Jesse, and the plethora of other goings-on in the suite that day, it was pretty chaotic.

"Dude," Paul chimed in with a helpful tone, "relax. The girl's obviously really into you, man."

"I'm fine, really," Danny impatiently tried to assure them. Of course, he wasn't a very good liar.

"If you sweat anymore over this, you'll need to reapply your deodorant." Jack punctuated his statement by stretching out and draping his arms over the back of the sofa he was seated on, one arm strategically going behind Jesse's shoulders. If she noticed, she didn't show it.

Danny quickly sniffed himself. "Eh... I better take an extra spray of Axe just to be sure." And with that he bolted out of the room to retrieve his spray-on deodorant.

Jack could be heard from the common room exasperatedly shouting, "I was kidding, you dumbass!"

Oh... Awkward. Well, it couldn't hurt anyway. After giving himself a quick spray, Danny checked himself in the mirror on his door again. Blue jeans, steel-toed boots, black Foamy the Squirrel T-shirt layered with an open shirt with tribal thorns... If only Dave were here. Danny had little confidence in his fashion sense. For god's sake, he fought ghosts in a haz-mat suit! Even Ghostbusters had better uniforms. All Danny knew how to do was dress like a metalhead/rocker. And Jack and Bram were even better at that than him.

It took some effort, but the group convinced Danny to stay still until it was time to go pick Sam up. He gave himself one last check before grabbing his keys, cell phone, and wallet and headed out the door. It was funny. He'd had butterflies in his stomach all day. Now that he was actually on the way to see Sam, he felt much more confident. He just hoped it wasn't the calm before the storm.

**-x-**

Tucker waited about thirty seconds after Danny left. There was always the possibility he would come back thinking he forgot something. Once the coast was clear, his face split into a wide grin and he turned to the others in the common room. "So guys, you want to get a front-row seat to Danny's big night out?" he asked mischievously.

Everyone turned to look at him oddly. Jack was the first to speak. "Are you suggesting that we tail Danny and spy on him and Sam on their date? That is without a doubt that most clichéd, trite, juvenile thing I've ever heard you say."

Jesse glanced at Jack from the corner of her eye as if suddenly very impressed with him.

Sadly, Jack didn't notice and promptly blew his window of opportunity to smithereens. "Unfortunately, Paul and I have a study session for our Roaring 20's class at 8, so we're going to have to skip this time around."

Jesse rolled her eyes and crossed her legs away from him with a silent huff.

"Besides," Paul added, "if they caught us we wouldn't live to see the light of another day. Danny's got those crazy moves his mother taught him, and Sam... That woman has some serious violence issues."

Tucker rubbed his shin at the memory of getting kicked yesterday. He actually had a minor bruise there now. "Yeah. All the more reason for me to use stealth. Anyway, what about you, Bram? In or out?"

"No can do, man," Bram answered as he lightly shook his head. "I got floor hockey at 6:30."

"Guess I'm goin' it alone, then," Tucker said dramatically with what he hoped was a sly grin. He had always envied Danny that trademark grin of his. He absently wondered if his friend even knew how cool it looked. But that was neither here nor there. Right now, he had to catch up with Danny and let the covert ops begin. Good thing he had his geek tech with him. He could cam-blog this date in real-time.

With that, he quickly snuck out. This was going to be so awesome. Tucker silently played over the Mission: Impossible theme in his head as he left the dorm and followed Danny's distant form which was moving toward Radcliffe Hall.

**-x-**

Danny quietly approached the gazebo. Sam had her back turned to him, so he couldn't get a very good look at her. All the same, he decided to have a little fun. Checking to make sure no one was around, his familiar sly grin crept onto his face and he went invisible. After the incident with the fake symposium courtesy of Plasmius, Danny had been working hard to learn how to use his powers in human form. It took some time, but he finally got it right and could freely use most of his powers without having to transform or experience some emotional extreme.

Casually strolling up to the gazebo, Danny stopped in front of Sam without making a sound. God damn it, she was hot! She still had her hair styled in that cute top-knot/ponytail thingy, but her clothes... Perhaps most noticeable was the fact that she had chosen to forego the striped stockings he had seen her in before. Guys always had one or more parts of a woman's body that they were particularly attracted to. For Danny, it was legs. And Sam had a pair seldom seen outside of Japanese animation. It was amazing what even the simplest clothing could hide. If that mini-skirt went any higher...

Anyway, the spell was broken when Sam looked at the tiny watch she wore behind one of her bracelets and started looking around for Danny. He quickly straightened himself out and sat next to her, becoming visible once more as soon as he was comfortable. "Hey, beautiful."

Sam jumped and let out a soft "eep" before sighing in relief. She gave Danny a punch in the shoulder and smiled at him. "I'll let that slide this time," she playfully scolded. "Now, any place in particular you wanted to go?"

"I know a little place about twenty minutes from here that serves Mediterranean," Danny casually suggested. "Great place to go for a Greek salad."

"Aw, you remembered I'm a vegan," Sam gushed in a deliberately over-the-top saccharine voice. "That is _so_ sweet."

"I try," he replied in what he hoped was a suave voice. "Do you mind walking there?"

Sam shook her head lightly and took his hand as she stood up, Danny following beside her. It was a nice, warm evening and there were still a couple hours until sunset. The clear sky meant it was going to be a beautiful night out. Though Danny wasn't much of a romantic, he had the advantage of an older sister who had coached him in his senior year on what women wanted to hear. It didn't work, but that was partly because of the years of social stigma he had gone through making it virtually impossible to get a date in Amity Park. Thank god for college and beautiful, politically radical Goth girls.

The walk to the restaurant was spent with the two of them exchanging stories about their experiences in high school. Sam seemed particularly amused by his story of the debate class he'd had and when he got paired against a guy who had absolutely no idea what he was talking about when it came to politics. "So he says, 'It even says in the Constitution that we're a republic, not a democracy. It only makes sense to vote accordingly.' I just rolled my eyes and responded, 'Do you actually know the difference between the two?'"

Sam burst out laughing and shook her head. "I'm assuming he didn't know?"

"Not a clue. His eyes widened and his face went red. Lancer ended the debate right there and awarded me bonus points for not getting partisan hackery. I swear, there's nothing more satisfying than putting stupid people in their place." Danny felt like he'd just been hit by a thunderbolt when he felt Sam's lips touch his cheek.

"Keep talking like that, and you might just 'get lucky' tonight." Her tone was at once teasing and seductive, and Danny tried to subtly adjust his button-down to cover up a certain reaction her voice elicited. Damn it all though, he could listen to her talk all day. It wasn't just the sound of her voice, but also the fact that she was so intelligent and confident. She was everything he tried so hard to be growing up. And in a lot of ways still wasn't. Although... the idea of hearing her voice all night did carry a few... naughty, even kinky connotations...

No! No, it was too early in the evening. He needed to stay focused and think with his brain, not his libido. Of course, hanging around four other guys who turned lewd humor into an art and science didn't help. But for now he needed to stay calm and keep his mind in check. Stay focused on the conversation and just enjoying the moment instead of staring at her oh so sexy legs; deliciously pale skin; and ample, perky- _god damn it!_

"You okay?" Sam asked with a concerned voice and a strange look.

Oh shit. He said that last expletive out loud, didn't he? Damn you, Freud! Okay, think fast. What else could possibly cause you to scream out an obscenity out of nowhere... other than Tourette's syndrome? "I, uh... I left the door to my dorm open by accident when I left. The guys were over at the suite, and they're probably rummaging through my stuff right now for some sophomoric prank." Nice save.

Sam rolled her eyes and muttered, "Men. Typical."

"Present company excluded?"

Sam gave Danny a flat look that spoke the answer for her.

"Aw, now you've wounded me," he pouted. This was too much fun. He was so lucky to have a girl like her just being in his life at all.

**-x-**

Sam hadn't had this much fun with just one person in... well, ever. She was never one to believe in love at first sight, but a part of her really wanted to change that. Danny was someone who had learned how the world worked by taking his lumps. He admitted to mistakes and that's how he got where he was today. And besides that, he was a hero. He risked his life for people who denied that beings like him even existed. How could you not admire that? How the hell was he still single?

They turned a corner and Sam saw the restaurant Danny spoke of at the opposite corner. The name "Antony's" was written on the plate glass window beside the door in a flowing script and accented with olive leaves. She glanced over at Danny and saw him peering at something suspiciously from the corner of his eye before they crossed the corner and he lost sight of whatever he had seen. "That sneaky little bastard," he growled.

"Danny, what are you talking about?" Sam asked curiously.

"Watch." Danny pulled out his cell phone as they crossed to the restaurant and hit one of the numbers on his speed dial. He held it to his ear for a second until Sam heard a faint greeting on the other end. Danny abruptly pulled the phone to his mouth, shielded both with his hands, and let out a blood-curdling, drawn-out scream into the receiver, which took the brunt of the sonic assault.

Abruptly, Tucker staggered into view from the corner they had just passed and leaned against a street lamp, holding a cell phone of his own out at arm's length and putting his free hand to his abused ear. Why that miserable little...!

Danny stopped his scream and glared over in Tucker's direction, gesturing for him to put the phone back to his ear. Danny spoke again into the cell phone instead of shouting across the way, "I'm already going to break both of your legs when I get back tonight. If you don't turn around and head back now, I'll also gut you with a wooden spoon. Got it?"

Tucker nodded visibly, still nursing his ear, as he mumbled something into the pone that Sam didn't catch and stalked off from whence he came.

"I know he's your friend," Sam stated flatly, "but for that, I'm going to have to hurt him."

"Get in line," Danny replied as he rolled his eyes. "That last kick you gave him actually left a bruise, you know."

"Good. I can give him a matching set." Sam raised a brow as Danny gave her a sly smile. "What?"

"You're hot when you're violent," he said bluntly.

Sam smiled back and playfully punched him in the shoulder before taking his hand again and walking into the restaurant.

Dinner passed much as the walk there did. The two swapped stories and laughed, played a little game of Favorites, and talked about their classes. Apparently, a part of Danny still hadn't let go of his childhood dream of being an astronaut, so he was currently a physics minor. If music didn't pan out, he could probably get a job at NASA in some way, shape, or form.

Sam herself minored in Poli-Sci. It was kind of embarrassing the way Danny looked at her with such admiration when she described all the work she had done for her agendas in her teenage years. "But it's not really a big deal," she dismissively added when she finished describing a protest she had attended boycotting cosmetics that used animal testing.

"Don't sell yourself short," Danny said assuringly as he took a sip of his coke. "Not everyone has the balls to stand up like that. Hell, I didn't until a couple years ago, and I've got superpowers."

Sam blushed and stirred at the remains of her food. Danny had recommended the briam, which was a Greek vegetable casserole. She had to admit, he had surprisingly good taste in greens for someone who still ate animal flesh. "Anyway, any particular movie you want to see?"

Danny shrugged. "You seen Sin City yet?"

Sam shook her head and finished the last of the casserole.

"Cool," Danny replied with a grin. "I wanted to check it out last weekend, but I had to study."

Danny insisted after they were done on getting an order of baklava for the road since they were walking to the theater as well. Sam came from a very wealthy family and had no shortage of cash, though she didn't like to make a big deal of that fact. She had tried to pay her own way through the evening, but Danny had been adorably insistent that he cover the check. If nothing else, Sam certainly gave him credit for one thing: he was stubborn in an endearing sort of way. Of course, being pretty mule-headed herself she could sympathize.

Once they were at the theater, Danny once again seemed hell-bent on covering expenses. "Really, you don't have to do this," Sam tried to convince him.

Danny just gave her that sly smile she had come to love in such a short amount of time. "Let me put it this way. I may not be your boyfriend yet, but that doesn't mean I can't dote on you a little."

Her face went bright red at that. "W-well..." Damn it, why did she have to stutter?

"For the sake of my male ego," Danny continued. "Come on, let me have my little 'Hey, I did something nice for a beautiful girl,' fantasy." And of course, he just had to punctuate that with soulful eyes and a boyish pout.

Damn. She was going to have to build up an immunity to that before he ended up draining his bank account on her. "Alright, you big sap," she conceded.

The movie was awesome. On that they both agreed. But Sam decided she'd have to see it again, since she blanked out at several parts as her hand became intertwined with Danny's and she leaned up against him. They didn't separate even at the end of the movie, and as they walked down the street back to the campus in the warm summer air, Sam could swear she had never felt so peaceful in her life.

The sky above was a velvety black and the stars winked and shone softly with the full moon. Sam felt Danny slip his hand from hers, only to snake his arm around her waist and gently pull her against him. She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder, loving the feeling of warmth and safety she found in his touch. It's funny how just one person can change your views on life, especially in such a short amount of time. Sam didn't want to say it just yet, but she was beginning to become a believer in love at first sight. It seemed for all the arbitrary prosperity and misfortune, illusions of good and evil, and indifferent unfairness that made up life, there was still a hint of something magical behind that crushing veil of the mundane.

Much as she hated to admit it, this night had been really... romantic. As they reached Radcliffe Hall, Sam turned to Danny and wrapped her arms around his neck with a soft smile. "Only one last thing to make this date complete," she said in a singsong voice.

Danny blushed lightly and circled his arms around her waist with his own gentle smile. "I think I see where this is going."

Sam normally considered herself a patient person, but at this point she was tired of waiting. She stretched up and pulled Danny down into her, kissing him with all the longing and passion that had been building up since she had first seen him the other night. Every nerve in her body went into overdrive as he kissed her back, and she became hyper-aware of every minute sensation from the touch of their lips, to the feeling of his body pressed against hers, to the comfort of his strong arms enveloping her in a warm embrace.

Sam gently opened her mouth, her better judgment leaving her as she wanted to deepen the kiss. The opportunity was stolen however as a sudden rush of cold flooded her mouth and Danny pulled away with a gasp. Sam opened her eyes in time to see a pale blue mist passing out of both their mouths.

Danny's eyes went wide and his hold on her suddenly became very protective as he looked around apprehensively.

"Danny?" Sam blurted out in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Ever see The Sixth Sense?" Danny asked as his eyes darted across the lawns, sidewalks, and rooftops of the surrounding campus. "Whenever there's a ghost nearby, I can see my breath in the air like it's really cold out."

"You mean... there's a ghost here? Now?" Sam had always kept an open mind about the paranormal, but that didn't mean she felt particularly inclined to face it head-to-head.

"Stay cool," Danny reassured her. "I doubt it's anything I can't handle. Get inside once I transform and I'll draw it away from campus."

Before Sam had the chance to respond, a massive hulking humanoid creature landed in front of them after leaping off the roof of the dorms. It stood nearly eight feet tall and had massive claws like daggers. The legs were triple-jointed and thick as tree trunks. The head was like that of a wolf with a thick neck, triangular ears, and sharp teeth. Its whole body was covered in green-grey fur and the eyes glowed softly of their own light. A pale aura surrounded the creature, giving it an ethereal appearance.

At the sight of the monster, part of Sam wanted to scream. The rest of her had forgotten how. She was thrown for even more of a loop however when Danny visibly relaxed, even smiled! There was a flash of recognition in his eyes and his face showed surprise but also relief and happiness.

"Wulf!"

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** Looks like I've got more time than I thought. One of my classes doesn't have a midterm to study for. Still, I should be sleeping as I type this. Oh well. Spring break at the end of the week.

Anyway, I'm hoping Public Enemies comes on again soon. I missed several parts of it, and most of them involved Wulf. I was immediately intrigued by the character, and just had to find some way to work him in. Though I'd like to see the episode again before I write anything further about him. Here's to hoping we'll see more of him in the near future as well. Unfortunately, it looks like he won't be back until next season... Which should be starting up within a month or so, since season one only has two more episodes to go and Butch Hartman has already revealed that the first episode of season 2 is titled Memory Blank. That and the fact that the show debuted April of last year. Glance back at chapter 1 to catch the little reference I snuck in there.

Anyway, just in case anyone took any umbrage toward Danny and Sam's conversation in this chapter about the debate class, let me just clear things up. I wasn't trying to insult anyone, I was just expressing my distaste for the growing trend of partisan politics in modern America and the tendency of people these days to latch onto asinine arguments fed to them by the media without any actual clue what they're talking about. I voted Kerry for president, but I also voted Specter for Senate. I did my research and made sure I made an informed decision on Election Day, so it really pisses me off when people just vote party line because they assume their party is automatically right all the time.

**lab1152:** I would hope so.

**LaBOBuren:** It was about the only analogy I could come up with. Which is weird, because I'm normally good at that. Life Lessons was about Skulker trying to decide whom to hunt down, Danny or Valerie. He ends up hunting them both in a contest reminiscent of "The Most Dangerous Game." If you haven't read that story, I highly recommend it. Anyway, long story short, they escape from Skulker and call an uneasy truce. Not one of the better episodes, but it did its job.

**Divine-Red-Crayon:** Sam probably liked that name because Lilith was (depending on who you ask) the first vampire and the one who taught Caine how to "live" with his curse. Yes, it's true, I'm a storehouse of useless information. Speaking of divine retribution, the second time I watched Life Lessons, I noticed that one of the empty flour sacks had its corners pinned up putting it in a pose like it was crucified. I'm hoping that was just my imagination. As for Painkiller... I actually regret using that title and I'll probably change it by next week. All of the chapter titles in the story are metal songs, and they all have something to do with the chapter. Painkiller is a Judas Priest song about a metallic hero who saves the world from Armageddon. It's one of my favorite Priest songs. I wish I could play guitar like that.

**Dreamstress Itako:** I find myself sympathizing with Danny's character in more ways than I care to admit. It's easier for me to write his dialog at least because of that. For one thing, I have a very dry sense of humor like the character does.

**getfuzzyfan04:** I don't watch VH1. They have no idea what the hell they're talking about. But seriously, an energetic stage presence is one of the hallmarks of many metal acts from Iron Maiden, to Judas Priest, to Manowar, to Children of Bodom. You go to a concert for a show, and damn it, these guys deliver.

**Ocean-Poweress:** I'm hoping I managed to keep the characterization consistent in this chapter. These are surprisingly complex characters for a Nickelodeon show.

**Short 'n Simple:** It would be great if stuff like that did happen. That would mean my Carpathian ancestry would give me unholy superpowers. Then I could _really_ turn into a wolf, instead of just looking like I was about to in the morning before I got my shower.

**robin and star fan:** The next chapter of TLotS will definitely be up some time after I finish writing it. At this point, that's the best answer I can give you. Sorry.

**Aurora Linada:** That alone makes me feel good to know that I've appealed to other metal fans out there. Most of the Danny Phantom stuff up now that features music is pop, pop/punk, or similar material. I honestly can't picture Sam being a fan of Good Charlotte instead of The Cure. Especially since she talks about her disdain of all things mainstream and popular in the show itself. If anything, she'd probably be a huge supporter of the indie rock scene.

**bbmylove:** Good timing.


	5. Some Heads Are Gonna Roll

**Author's Notes:** As I type this out, I'm enjoying Spring Break. By the time you're reading this, I'm probably back in school. Man, I needed this chance to relax. Couple of things...

First of all, Freedom Force 2 is awesome. So awesome, I just had to write in a scene about it in this chapter.

Second, this goddamn message board is once again attempting to foil my attempts to join my City of Heroes friends. Despite my registering with a whole new username and everything, it's still convinced that I don't actually exist. And now it won't even load the page. I don't know why this site has such an animus against me. I'm trying to get people on the inside to contact the admins and figure out what the fuck is going on. I can't be the only one this is happening to.

Finally, I'm going to have to take a short hiatus when I'm done with the various chapters I'm currently working on in my different stories. I'm feeling a little burnt out on writing. It's not that I don't have the ideas, it's that I don't have the energy. Writing is like flexing a muscle; I can only keep it under pressure for so long before I have to relax it. It can be a pretty exhausting process sometimes, but it's worth it. Anyway, just giving you the heads-up.

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 5- Some Heads Are Gonna Roll

Sam was paralyzed. She just clung to Danny in fear, unable to figure out what to make of the situation. Fortunately, the answer was supplied for her as Danny began speaking in a language she had never heard before.

The monster in front of them started speaking in the same strange tongue. They were conversing! "D-danny?" she asked nervously. "W-what's going on?"

Danny smiled down at her. "You don't have to worry. This is a friend of mine. Name's Wulf." With that, Danny turned back to the monster. "Esperanto is his first language. He doesn't speak very good English."

Wulf shook his shaggy head. "Vocabulary is fine," he stated in a rumbling snarl of a voice. "Grammar is a pain in the ass. Too many rules."

"Your slang's getting better," Danny offered consolingly. "But seriously, big guy, what brings you here? Last I saw, you were out trying to help finish mapping the Ghost Zone last year."

Again, Wulf shook his head and frowned as much as his canine snout would allow. "Trouble. Better to talk in private."

Danny nodded, and Sam gasped as he scooped her up in his arms bridal style and quickly checked to make sure the coast was clear before transforming into Danny Phantom. They lifted off into the air and Wulf leaped after them onto the roof of the dorms, landing silently. Danny landed and set Sam down. "Alright, Wulf. What's going on? This is starting to spook me, no pun intended."

"Time is short," Wulf explained as he looked back and forth with his nose testing the air. "I come to warn you that there is something wrong in the Ghost Zone."

At the suddenly nervous look on Danny's face, Sam felt butterflies of her own starting up in her stomach. "Wrong like how?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

Wulf fixed his spectral gaze on her and Sam felt her certainty in being a vegan redoubled. Being the center of attention to that look made her understand what the prime rib special at a steakhouse must feel like. "Not sure," the lupine ghost growled at last. "Someone is organizing other ghosts. Planning attacks. I am hunted even now."

"Hunted? Let me guess," Danny dryly quipped, "you know too much?"

Wulf nodded once and folded his massive arms over his chest. "Ghosts attacking lately?"

Danny ran a hand back through his bangs and heaved a sigh. "Yeah, actually. Three in the last week. I was wondering where they've all been coming from since we're miles from the nearest gateway. You think this has something to do with me?"

"Yes," Wulf stated simply. He sniffed the air a few times and the fur on his neck seemed to stand up. "I must go now. Lay low and I will return later and explain."

Danny pursed his lips, clearly unhappy with the situation, but nodded in acquiescence. "Alright, I'll try to keep a low profile. Be careful out there, buddy."

Wulf nodded once more and bounded off the roof, vanishing into the suburbs beyond the campus in a flash. There was a faint howl in the distance, which started up barking and howling from every dog in the neighborhood. "Guess he's trying to throw whoever's after him off the trail," Danny thought aloud. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"How did you meet that... thing?" Sam asked, not wanting to dwell on such sinister thoughts.

"Long story," Danny sighed. "And I told you, his name is Wulf. It happened back when I was fourteen. I'll give you the whole story later. Come on." He offered his hand, which she took without hesitation, realizing that the strange feeling of safety and security she felt in his presence had never left her, even when Wulf appeared out of the blue and scared the living shit out of her.

Sam let out a soft gasp as a cool, soothing sensation swept through her body and she could no longer see herself or Danny. She felt one of his arms go around her waist and the ground rose up to meet them. Before she knew it, they passed through the roof and were in the middle of the hallway of the top floor! "Where's your dorm?" she heard Danny ask.

"Th-third floor," Sam managed to stammer out. "Room 313." Once again, she found herself passing through solid objects and floating unseen until the door to her room was right in front of her.

She felt her feet touch the ground and she and Danny once again became visible. He darted his eyes around the empty hall before transforming back into his human form. "Shame the mood got killed," he said with a sad smile.

Sam smiled back. The evening wasn't a total waste, at least. "Maybe. But I wasn't quite finished with that kiss. I'll be by tomorrow to collect."

Danny's face went bright red and his smile turned to an embarrassed one. "I'm looking forward to it."

Sam gave Danny a kiss on the cheek and unlocked her door, casting a final flirtatious glance over her shoulder before slipping in and gently shutting it behind her. She leaned back against the door and, much to her own surprise, let out a contented, lovelorn sigh.

"I take it your big date went well?"

Sam felt her face heat up and looked over to see Monica laying in bed propped up on a stack of pillows and peering over the top of a comic book at her. "I'll take that as a 'yes,'" she continued without waiting for a response. "So, was he as charming as he is handsome? Did he offer to pay for everything? Did he try any lame one-liners to impress you? Did he try to find any excuse he could to touch you? Did you kiss him or did he kiss you? Either way, how was it?"

Sam frowned slightly at all the questioning. "Monica, you of all people should know better than to interrogate me."

"My mother was stereotypically nosy," Monica relied nonchalantly. "You don't live with someone for nineteen years without a little of them rubbing off on you. And you know how persistent I can be."

Sam heaved a sigh of resignation and went over to her bed before slipping her boots off. "Yes, yes, no, yes, I kissed him, and it was nothing short of incredible." Sam arched a brow when she was finished as if daring Monica to try any more questions. "You done with your little inquisition?"

"Just one more question," Monica replied with a smile.

"Yeah...?"

"Whenever you plan on having him 'stay the night,' you will warn me in advance so that I have time to set up my webcam, right?" That earned Monica a tossed pillow to the face, which promptly lead to an all out war that lasted until midnight.

**-x-**

The next day, Danny was seated in Romero Dining Hall eating lunch with Tucker and Paul. Of course, it wasn't possible for them to have a normal conversation. "You're crazy." He bit into his turkey sub and shook his head.

"No, really," Paul said with one hand up as if to defend himself. "Think about it. In the first game, we all knew that Alchemiss and Man-Bot had their little romance going."

"Naturally," Tucker supplied.

"And in Freedom Force 2, we get another two relationships. Bullet and Tricolour diggin' each other, and Tombstone mentioning to Sea Urchin, very prophetically I might add, about her 'future husband.'"

"Still kind of weirds me out." Tucker took a bite of his apple and gestured for Paul to continue.

"But you can't tell me that Minuteman and Eve weren't shacking up at the very least." Paul seemed pretty resolute in his stance. "Think about it. They've got the whole boyscout/girlscout thing going. They're both ageless."

"In theory," Tucker interjected.

"Right, but anyway... Minuteman was always the first to stick up for Eve when she and Alchemiss had their little catfights. Eve expressed concern for Minuteman going into battle while injured. Their powers complement one another."

"Now you're just stretching," Danny interrupted. "I don't know, man. It just seems kinda weird."

"Says the halfa," Paul shot back. "Come on, which of us here would _not_ bang a girl like Eve? You can't deny that after hours Minuteman is, shall we say, 'getting back in touch with nature.'"

Before he could make a witty comeback, Danny felt a slender pair of arms drape over his neck and warm pair of lips touch his cheek. "Afternoon, boys. Fascinating conversation." There was that voice he could spend his whole day listening to. A goofy grin spread over Danny's face and he tilted his head back to look Sam in the eyes.

"I'm assuming your date went well. Hot damn!" Tucker whooped. "Jack owes me my five bucks back."

Danny arched a brow and looked over at Tucker. "How many bets have you two been taking on my love life?"

"Just one more," Tucker conceded. "Tell you what, we got a double-or-nothing going and I don't feel like losing another ten like yesterday. If Jack asks, can you tell him you two had sex last night?"

Danny felt his face heat up. "Just for that, no I won't tell him. Besides, we didn't sleep with each other, anyway."

Paul stifled a snicker as Tucker frowned and rolled his eyes. "Oh well. Guess we can't ask for two miracles and have you lose your virginity on the same night you get yourself a new girlfriend."

Paul was now trying very hard to hold back his laughter as Danny craned his neck back again to see Sam glaring at Tucker. "I'll hold him and you bludgeon him in the stomach with a chair."

Sam just grinned evilly. "Or we could just wait until he's asleep and let me cast a spell on him."

Tucker's expression immediately turned to one of worry. "You're bullshitting me. You wouldn't really do that."

"Try me," Sam answered evenly as she sinuously turned and sat herself in Danny's lap, looking positively wicked. She kept her arms around his neck and let her hair tickle his cheek. Damn, that was hot. A guy could get used to this. He wrapped his arms around her waist and put on that smile she seemed to like so much.

"I think I should just count my losses on this one." With that, Tucker got up, took his empty tray, and left.

Paul glanced over at the two remaining people at the table and smirked. "Slick. Do you really believe in magic?"

Sam just shrugged and grinned. "Sort of. I'm not actually a Pagan, I'm agnostic. But Tucker doesn't know that. And I plan to keep it that way."

"Gotcha," Paul answered with a nod. "My lips are sealed." He glanced at his watch and gathered his tray up. "Anyway, I've got Public Speaking in an hour. I'll see you guys around."

As the skinny drummer walked off, Danny grinned at Sam. "You get the feeling they want to give us some alone time?"

Sam didn't actually respond. She just pressed her lips to his quickly before pulling back, teasing him.

"Come to collect on that kiss?" He hoped he was able to pull off a sexy tone of voice. As an actor, he was average at best and he had very little experience with women.

"Mmm, not here. But definitely today." Now _that_ was a sexy tone. How did she do that? "You doing anything tonight?"

"Nothing I couldn't move around. How about a little movie night at my room?"

Sam gave him another peck on the lips. "What did you have in mind?"

"I just got The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra on DVD." Danny wasn't really sure how much of a limb he was going out on with this one. A movie made by independent filmmakers to spoof cheap 50's era sci-fi flicks. Oh yeah, that was real smooth.

Sam's eyes widened. "You have that? I've been dying to see it!"

Ka-ching! He hit the jackpot with Sam, alright. One more test to go. "I also have Mystery Men if you're up for a double feature."

"I want to make out with you so bad right now." A woman who wore her emotions on her sleeves, was willing to kick the whole world in the ass, had no qualms about walking to her own song, _and_ liked geek movies. God, she was incredible. What was she going to tell him next? That she loved video games? That she read comic books? That she came from money? ...Okay, the last one sounded kinda shallow.

"What classes do you still have to get to today?" Though Jack and Tucker were shameless flirts, they weren't exactly a pair of ladies' men. Bram was much more competent when it came to women. He had a girlfriend himself back in Amity Park who he talked with every night on IM or his cell phone. And one piece of advice he had given Danny was to play it cool in the early stages. Don't act arrogant or untouchable; just try to pretend that you were the one in complete control. Unfortunately, Danny didn't have a lot of practice, so he was mostly just testing the waters and easing into this whole "playing the peacock" thing. This would have been so much less difficult if he could be Danny Phantom right now. It's easier to act confident around other people when you're a friggin' superhero.

"None," Sam replied with a soft smile. "I'm free for the day."

"Convenient," Danny purred as he placed a kiss on her neck. "I've only got two classes in the morning, and hey, how about that? It's not the morning anymore. In fact, why don't we just start now?"

"Forgetting something, Danny?" asked an unseen booming bass voice from behind. Damn. Bram must have gotten out of class early. He and Sam seemed to be the only ones who could sneak up on him. Odd, because being half-ghost had sharpened his senses to preternatural levels.

"God? Is that you?" Danny faked a wide-eyed expression before quickly averting his eyes.

He felt a large hand slap him lightly on the back and heard a rumbling chuckle and a feminine giggle. "Seriously, dude. You've got practice today, remember?"

"Shit, yeah." He was right. Bram was like a personal trainer to Danny. While his mother taught him all of her martial arts skills, Bram helped him with weight training for strength, free running for endurance, Tai Chi for grace, and yoga for flexibility. The last two also significantly helped him with concentration, which greatly increased his control over his powers. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays were for Tai Chi and yoga. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays were weights and free running. "I'll be there."

"You got an appointment or something?" Sam asked.

"Sort of," Danny replied. "Bram's made it one of his life goals to get me into shape."

"Ah. What kind of a routine do you have?"

Bram slid into a seat beside them and snatched a potato wedge off of Danny's tray. "Today we're doing Tai-Chi and yoga for an hour each."

Sam nodded slightly and rested her head against Danny's shoulder. "Just don't bulk him up too much. I don't like guys with too many muscles."

"I didn't make him for _you_," Bram mock sneered in his best Tim Curry impersonation, which was followed by a hearty laugh from all three of them.

Sam had insisted on coming along to watch Danny train. She stopped off at her dorm to grab her schoolwork so that she could get something constructive done in the process. The next two hours were spent with Danny running through his exercises and twisting his body into shapes that most would find intensely uncomfortable. And Sam just kept glancing up from her notes and sketchbook and smiling at him. It felt a little awkward at first, but the feeling passed. The only challenge for Danny was not letting his thoughts drift to his evening of having Sam all to himself. She was the first real girlfriend he'd ever had. And she was everything he'd ever dreamed of. Everything he thought he'd seen in his other crushes at first. That kiss last night... living proof that there was love at first sight. It just felt so right, as cliché as it sounded.

Danny changed after they were done, and Bram stuck around to do his own weight training, which he had scheduled for the alternate days when he was helping Danny. It was almost four o'clock now, and Danny really wanted to just spend the rest of the day with Sam. He took her hand as they went back toward Craven Hall. "You want to grab some dinner before we start the-" He was abruptly cut off as his ghost sense went off, the wisp of blue mist drifting in the direction of the computer lab which they were passing by. "Shit," he grumbled. "I'll be right back."

Without a second thought, Danny took off toward the nearby double doors, faintly aware of Sam calling out to him. No time, though. He had to make this quick. Fighting ghosts in broad daylight was always tricky business. In order to keep a low profile, he would need to go in, defeat the ghost, and get out fast and as efficiently as possible. Which meant avoiding witnesses.

Danny threw open the door to the computer lab, thankful that classes were over and it was empty for the time being, only to be greeted by an incredibly obnoxious sight.

"I, Technus, master of all things digital and programmable, have returned at last!" Sure enough, there was the egotistical technophile ghost floating in the center of the room and laughing maniacally with his fists in the air as various electronic odds and ends levitated in circles around him. One of the computer monitors was still glowing with ectoplasmic energy and a few strands of his tattered ghostly lab coat were hanging in it.

"How the fuck did you get out of Level 0?" Danny blurted out in shock. "And how did you end up here of all places?"

Technus started slightly in surprise and looked over at Danny, hands dropping to his sides. "What? The ghost boy is here?" He then grinned wickedly and raised his fists into an offensive position just as Sam came skidding around the corner, much to Danny's alarm. "No matter. For I, Technus, shall teach you a lesson once and for-"

"Oh shut the hell up," Danny snapped as he dropped his duffel bag and took out the Fenton Thermos. "I don't have time for this." He widened his stance and transformed in the usual flash of light. He glanced over at Sam, giving her a look that clearly warned her to stay back before glaring over at his opponent. "I'm just going to get your ass-kicking done and out of the way before you get a chance to possess all the school's technology."

"What?" Technus looked around the room, seemingly noticing for the first time just where he was. "Again with the great ideas!" he shouted gleefully. "You could make a lot of money as a consultant, you know."

"God damnit! You'd think I'd have learned by now to stop talking around this jackass!" Before Technus had the chance to go for any of the equipment in the room, Danny split himself into three clones, all of them launching themselves at the arrogant ghost.

It was always an unusual sensation. He imagined that this is what sentient computers would feel like. Each clone was self-aware, capable of its own thought processes, but was still him. And they were all networked. Essentially, it was like being able to carry on three trains of thought at the same time, and be in three different places at once to carry them out. Whoops, correction: four.

Despite Danny's silent warning, Sam came into the computer lab anyway. God, she was stubborn. As two clones engaged Technus by delivering punches simultaneously to the face and stomach, the third split again. Danny number 4 swept away and scooped Sam up bridal style, carrying her away down the hall. "Sam, you have to get out of here! I've fought this guy before, and he can get pretty dangerous."

Not waiting for her to respond, Danny took off back toward the computer lab, monitoring the progress of his clones.

Danny number 2 gave Technus a hard elbow to the gut, which Danny number 3 followed up with a round kick to the head.

Danny number 1 grabbed Technus by his ghost tail and smirked. "He's a little something I like to call The Linda Blair." Grasping the ghost tail in both hands, he swung his opponent up over his head before pulling him back down and slamming him face-first into the floor before repeating the whole stunt two more times. He then let go to let Danny number 4 fall out of flight like a stone into an elbow drop on Technus' back.

"You young whippersnappers!" Technus wheezed in pain. He shakily tried to rise up into the air again, but found the Fenton Thermos shoved under his chin like he was being held at gunpoint.

"How did you get out?" Danny number 1 snarled.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Technus haughtily replied.

"Wrong answer." With that, Danny uncapped the thermos and let it suck the technophile ghost within in a flash of green light. "But I don't need to know right now."

His clones merged back into one body just as Sam peered around the edge of the door. "All clear," he told her.

She sighed in relief and walked into the room, looking around as if still unsure. It made Danny wonder just why she seemed so persistent in following him. Seeing Wulf last night caused her to nearly pass out. Why was she suddenly so determined to get herself in the line of fire? Best to find out now. "Sam, I told you to keep back. Why did you keep following me?"

Sam folded her arms over her chest and looked away with a frown. "I just... I'm new to this whole ghost hunting thing, okay?"

Though she hadn't said it out loud, Danny knew what she meant. She was worried about him. She didn't want him to get hurt. That guilty look on her face said it all. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, Danny transformed back into his human form and pulled Sam into a warm embrace that she quickly returned. He gently tilted her head up by her chin and smiled. "Why don't you collect on that kiss I owe you?"

Sam didn't need any more encouragement and pulled him down into a passionate kiss. It stayed "innocent" for all of about 10 seconds before they slipped their tongues into one another's mouths. All of Danny's blood was rushing to his head and a couple other regions of his body. The world around him was spinning wildly and there was nothing but him and Sam that stayed still. When they at last parted for hair, his lips, lungs, and every nerve where the two of the touched were on fire. It was like in a cheesy romance flick where his eyes fell on the girl of his dreams and everything else in the background turned into an unfocused pastel haze.

Sam herself looked a little flushed as she smiled up at him before resting her head on his shoulder.

But the moment ended like the screech of a vinyl record being poorly stopped as a small group of students walked into the computer lab and halted at the sight of the couple in front of them. "Sorry," one girl said. "We interrupting something?"

"Kinda," Danny mumbled. He took Sam's hand, discreetly hid the Fenton Thermos behind his back and retrieved his duffel bag as the two of them made a hasty retreat.

"As I was saying before," Danny beamed as they stepped outside, "you want to grab some dinner before we he back for our movie night?"

What Danny never said though was that something at the back of his mind was bothering him. First, ghost attacks escalate. Then Wulf shows up and warms him that something big is about to happen. And to top it all off, Technus somehow escapes from Level 0, ending up on Sleepy Hollow campus of all places. The attack and Wulf at least had a connection. But this... Something didn't smell right about all of this. And Danny would need to find out soon before somebody got hurt.

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** I'm still feeling pretty burnt out on writing. But I'm going to see Sin City tomorrow, so maybe that will make me feel better.

On a side note, my money situation is pretty bad. Looks like I won't be doing much spending until some time in June. Damn. Hopefully I'll be in good enough financial status by then to go see Judas Priest.

The plan for my website is coming along. I have a few ideas for scripts to write, and I'm working on the essentials for the site design. At the moment, I'm thinking of naming it Witching Hour Studios.

**LaBOBuren:** It seems you procrastinated on those e-mails as I took this long without getting one.

**Amy:** Again, it's good to know I can get through to people with a wider range of music.

**Terrasina Dragonwagon:** I really think Butch Hartman is trying to create Danny as the type of person going through that transitional phase in adolescence where he's desperately trying to find his identity. I wouldn't call it an inferiority complex so much as teenage awkwardness and insecurity.

**They-Call-Me-Orange:** I'm familiar with all of those bands already. They're growing on me.

**bbmylove:** I'll leave a review for your work sometime in the near future.

**Anomaly25:** I wish I was in a band, but I haven't gotten good enough yet. Besides that, I don't know many musicians back home. The locals aren't exactly the most sophisticated types when it comes to music either.

**Izayoi:** Being addicted to Edguy can be a good thing. Especially with their ass-kicking attitude.

**Lady Katreina:** W-U-L-F is how it was spelled in the credits. Yes, I finally got to see the whole episode.

**Tmansdc:** Not the best Priest album, but AoR was still pretty solid. It's their first work with Rob in fifteen years, so I imagine they're trying to rediscover their old work to elevate their sound. And Ripper is doing great with Iced Earth.

**Natasha:** Now that you've got Danny's reaction to the kissing, did it live up to expectations?


	6. Epic

**Author's Notes:** It's after graduation and I'm back at writing... Uh, yeah...

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 6- Epic

The next month was odd to say the least. Ghost attacks were sporadic, but nothing quite as dramatic as Technus' inexplicable return. Something wasn't right about that. To make matters worse, there was no word from Wulf. Not even rumors of a sighting. This was putting Danny a little on edge, despite his new relationship with Sam. And the rest of the crew wasn't too happy about it either once he filled them in.

Finals came and went, and Danny and the band headed home to Amity Park. Sam went back to Sleepy Hollow, but said she'd be visiting for most of the summer once she got things straightened out back at home. Danny had already talked to his parents about it, and they had happily agreed to let her use the guest room. Hell, they were just thrilled to hear that their son had a girlfriend at last. Danny usually had such a hard time coming out of his shell.

It was now the first week of June. Sam was supposed to be coming over this afternoon, and it made it difficult for Danny to focus on band practice. The group had decided their first demo tapes would center around sci-fi/supernatural themes like Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, and Helloween since all of them were well-read in both subjects. So far, they had worked out six songs: Recurring Nightmare, Shooting Star, Cyberpunk, Through the Void, On Wings of Fire, and Bad Moon. As per usual, they got all their rehearsals in, but it took longer than one would expect due to all the goofing off. Today in particular, most of the screwing around was between Tucker and Jack. Tucker kept playing the synth hook to The Final Countdown by Europe and annoying Paul and Bram who hated that song. It only made it worse when Jack started singing in his harsh voice as per the cover of that song by Norther. In between, they worked on a few covers including Epic by Faith No More, Scream! by The Misfits, and Frankenstein by Iced Earth.

At last, it was time for the band to pack up and Danny to leave Tucker's attic to meet Sam at his home. She had asked why he didn't choose a landmark since she might have a hard time finding his house, but he assured her it was difficult to miss. As he sat on the stoop, Danny had a hard time holding in his excitement. He was going to be spending most of the summer with Sam! Could he be any luckier?

Every passing car brought his hopes up, only to bring him back down when it zipped past his house without pause. At last, his patience was rewarded when a black Mercedes pulled up in front of his house and out stepped Sam. She looked up at the massive equipment over the house that made up the ops-center of Fenton Works and back down at Danny. "Okay, so I wasn't hallucinating."

"Told you you'd find it," Danny quipped and strode up to Sam, enveloping her in an embrace and a warm kiss, which she was all too happy return.

"You're even cuter than I remember," Sam mock gushed.

"And you've never looked more beautiful," Danny said back in the same tone.

"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a video camera."

Danny winced and looked over his shoulder at Jazz who was standing in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest and a rather smug look on her face. Since starting college, Jazz hadn't been able to maintain the upkeep of her long red tresses, so she had it cut just off the shoulders now. If anything, it just made her look even more like an overachieving workaholic. "Sam... this is my sister, Jazz. Jazz, this is Sam."

"Your girlfriend?" Jazz asked teasingly.

Sam pulled Danny into another forceful kiss before he could respond, but broke it before he had the chance to reciprocate. "That should be painfully obvious at this point, don't you think?" she asked in her usual sarcastic, but friendly manner.

Jazz raised a brow, her smile never faltering. "It's going to be fun having you around, Sam." She then turned back to the house. "Mom, Dad! Danny's girlfriend is here!"

Ghosts be damned, the ability of the senior Fentons to show up within milliseconds of a call like that regardless of wherever they may have been a moment ago was not only uncanny, it was also inexplicable in its defiance of the laws of physics. In a blur of orange and blue, Jack and Maddie Fenton zipped into sight of the front door. This should be interesting. The Fentons didn't exactly excel at first impressions. Danny still remembered the day Jack and Bram had first come to his house. Maddie tried to determine if Bram's impossibly deep voice was some sort of supernatural phenomenon (when he demnostrated his singing voice, the floor shook), and Jack (Fenton) spent at least an hour telling Jack "the Ripper" about his "good, strong name" and how his stage persona's namesake had something or other to do with ghosts... It was at about that point that no one in the house was really paying attention to the Fenton father, actually. "Brace yourself," Danny muttered to Sam discreetly as he led her inside before his parents had the chance to get outside and make fools of themselves all over again in front of the neighbors.

As soon as the door shut, he knew that the flurry of embarassment was about to commence.

"Sam, so good to meet you at last!" Maddie said enthusiastically. Blush, coming in on runway 5; blush, you are cleared for landing, and... "Danny hasn't stopped talking about you since he got back." Go!

Danny felt his face heating up already. Record timing.

"She believes in ghosts, right?" Jack muttered in a suspicious tone to his son, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. "She's certainly pale enough to be one."

Activating defensive measure of shrugging shoulders and ducking head lower to try and appear beneath notice. Evalutation: ineffective. "Dad, we went over this. She knows I'm half-ghost."

"And we already went over the fact the we're not going to put Danny and Sam through this," Jazz interrupted as if scolding children. "We agreed that when she arrives, you avoid talking shop around her whenever possible."

"But she does believe in ghosts, right?" Jack pressed. "If our son is going to pass along the family genes..." Oh dear god! Code red! Blush reaching critical mass!

Before he could ramble on any further, Maddie's reasonable side kicked in. "She's right, dear. We did promise." She then turned to Sam with a pleasant smile. "Danny and I will get your bags, dear. Jazz will show you your room."

Crisis averted. Temporarily. Relax defenses, but keep early warning system active. Sam had a wide-eyed look of surprise, apparently having taken Danny' warning with a grain of salt. Hey, he tried to warn her. Everyone says their family is weird. The Fentons, however, regularly redefined the word.

Danny sighed in relief and went out with his mother to get Sam's luggage. Predictably, it was all in matching black. With the two of them carrying things, it only took one trip to get it all up to the guest room where Sam was already settling in. He saw her laying on the bed with her ankles crossed and hands behind her head. "Ah, room service," she joked. "Set the bags down anywhere, bellboy. And get me a salad."

"Don't I get a tip?" Danny asked with a feigned pout.

Sam sat up and grabbed Danny's shirt, pulling him down to her in a passionate kiss. Danny was in a rather blissful state at that point. It wasn't until after the kiss was broken that he realized his mother had left the room. It was funny. His parents always found some way to get involved with his life before, but now they were giving him his freedom to make his own choices.

Danny sat down beside Sam and pulled her into his lap. "You know of course that the guys and I have to practice for four hours every day, so that's going to cut into 'us' time."

Sam gave a lopsided smile. "You had to bring that up," she muttered. "It's okay. I know it's important to you." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled softly.

"Thanks, Sam. I just didn't want to disappoint you after you come all this way to see me and I'm not around."

"It's only four hours out of a sixteen hour day," Sam laughed. "But it's okay, really. C'est le vie."

"Tish! That's French!" Danny started kissing his way up her arm, which sent Sam into a fit of laughter. She fell out of his lap onto the bed, dragging Danny down with her. "Speak some more! Creme broule, enchante, Eiffel tower...!"

Sam kissed him forcefully to shut him up and smiled. "Easy there, Casanova."

"I prefer Doctor Feelgood, if you catch my drift," Danny teased before realizing he was laying in a bed in a tangle of limbs with Sam. He could have timed that one a little better. He just hoped she was sufficiently turned on to take it in good humor.

Sam just cuddled up to him with a grin. "I think I like where this is going. But not right now. It's been a long trip."

**-x-**

An hour later across town, Tucker, Bram, and Paul were sitting in Tucker's living room playing in a Halo II free-for-all. Actually, Bram and Paul were really getting into it and targeted each other almost exclusively. Tucker was sniping them from the sidelines whenever they were distracted. Not like he was going to complain, mind you. He hadn't had a winning streak like this in a while.

"You're goin' down, Darth!" Paul shouted as he opened fire on Bram who swiftly took cover.

"Bring it, cheesedick!"

"Punk-ass bitch!"

"Cunt rag!"

"Communist!"

Bram stopped in mid-breath and looked strangely at Paul. "What!"

Paul took the opportunity to blast Bram clear out of existence. "Woot! I smoked that bitch!"

Paul's revelry was cut short when Tucker put a bullet right through him. "Man you guys are making this too easy." That might have been a mistake. Paul and Bram nodded to each other and cast dark looks at Tucker as their characters respawned. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Bram looked down at his pocket and took out his cellphone. He looked at the caller ID and rolled his eyes. "Figures." He set the cell on speaker phone and put it on the coffee table as the game resumed and the now united rivals proceded to hunt Tucker down like a dog. "What is it Danny?"

"Bram?" Danny's voice came from the tiny phone. "I need some advice here. Sam's here. She's taking a nap right now from the trip, but I need your help. I don't want to screw this up."

"Oh for crissakes, man!" Paul groaned in exasperation.

"Dude, you haven't shut up about this all week," Tucker reminded Danny as he barely dodged a flurry of bullets aimed at him. "I think at this point, you could afford a few screw-ups and Sam would just call it charming."

"Danny, need I remind you that this is the fifth time this week you've bugged me about this?" Bram asked. "Did you make her laugh?"

"Yes," came Danny's reply.

"Were you confident and sincere when appropriate?"

"Yes."

"Did she make out with you?"

"Yes."

"What the hell else do you want me to tell you? The proper way to give a woman oral sex?"

There was a pause on Danny's end. "Well... now that you bring it up..."

If Bram could have torn himself away from the controller long enough to slap his forehead, he would have at that moment. "I'm not having this conversation with you. Not now, anyway."

"At least he's thorough," Tucker commented in his best friend's defense.

Bram rolled his eyes and proceded to turn Tucker's character into a smear on the wall. "Danny..." he said slowly. "What you've been doing has been working so far, right?"

"Yeah," Danny responded with just a hint of suspicion.

"Then my advice is to_ keep doing it_!" With that, Bram hung up and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "Alright, back to the carnage."

A few minutes into the merciless slaughtering of Tucker's character, the young technophile couldn't help letting his mind wander. Sam really was good for Danny. The poor guy had been lonely long enough... which reminded Tucker of something. "Hey, Bram. Now that we've got Danny hooked up, you think you could help me score a date?"

Bram turned his eyes toward the ceiling in exasperation. "Will it get you people to stop asking me about this every hour on the hour?"

"Maybe," Tucker answered.

There was a pause before Bram sighed. "I'll talk to Jenny tomorrow. Beautiful women often have beautiful friends who are also single."

"Beautiful and single, my favorite kind." Tucker went back to Halo II feeling triumphant. Was he being a little superficial? Perhaps. But twenty years of singledom forces you to be... open to the possibilities. Yeah, that sounded good. The whole trick to not having to feel guilty about anything was just keeping in mind that you only needed to justify your actions to yourself. Who cares if no one else liked it? Everyone who was important was satisfied. Ignorance truly was bliss... except right now when the ignorance of where Paul had been hiding caused Tucker to get a face full of grenade.

**-x-**

Sam awoke to see Danny sitting next to the bed flipping through one of her scrapbooks. It was only half-finished as it was all memories of her and Danny. "See anything you like?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

Danny dropped his head back on the bed, looking at Sam upside down. "If I didn't before, I do now."

"Flattery will get you everwhere," Sam purred.

"Plenty more where that came from." Danny then smirked and arched a brow as he turned around so he could face Sam without having to strain his neck. "Of course, I think you'll have to work for the rest. You can't expect me to just kiss your ass all day, do you?"

Sam chuckled a little at that and stretched out like a cat. "Fair enough. Have I told you today how adorable you are?"

"Repeatedly," Danny answered. "Keep it comin'."

Sam just laughed and grabbed a fistful of his hair. "How about this instead?" She pulled him into a forceful kiss, smiling against his lips. She had never figured she'd be this aggressive with a guy, but it just felt natural. There was something magical also about Danny being her first boyfriend, just as she was his first girlfriend. It was like they were both discovering everything together. And that gave her a feeling of contentment she had never experienced before.

**-x-**

Tucker was walking down the streets. Paul and Bram had to leave for dinner, so Tucker decided to go searching for some job applications. He hoped that the game shop was hiring. The problem with being an adult was having to actually work for a living. Bah. Work. The only stuff he really enjoyed doing didn't count as work, and unfortunately, he needed a degree to do that. So he had to look forward to another 4 years as a minimum wage slave.

His internal monologue of self-pity was interrupted by a rather eye-catching poster up in the music store window that wasn't there yesterday. "Ah, crap," he thought aloud. Summer just started and already they were going to have to put up with this. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed up 1 on his speed dial.

"Hello, Danny? Yeah, it's Tuck... Oh, nothing much. Just thought you might want to know. The Queen Bitch of Rock is back... Duh. Who else would I be talking about, Alanis Morisette?"

**Ember Strikes Back!**

**This Saturday Only at Amity Arena!**

**Author's Notes:** The semester has really sucked, but it's finally over. Thank god. Hopefully I can get some of these things out of the way. Chapter 7 coming up soon along with the much-anticipated updates to other fics such as Lights, Camera, Action, Waiting for Dawn, Dawn of a New Age, and To Hell and Back. Updates all around this winter!


	7. Through the Fire and Flames

**Author's Notes:** Been a long time. Been very busy. Cancer in the family, shooting a documentary, getting my business off the ground, making friends, learning magic... As I'm typing this, I have no internet in my room but hope to get that fixed by the time I finish writing this. On with the show.

A Musical Interlude

Chapter 7 - Through the Fire and Flames

Everyone gathered at the Fentons'. Ember was back and up to something again. It seemed like her standard routine of trying to get a mass audience to bolster her power at one time. Though, being a rocker her self, subtlety was not one of her strong suits. Paul hung back a bit. He preferred to leave the bulk of the planning to the others and just offer support as needed. You could always count on ol' Paul to back you up in an emergency.

"She'll obviously have tight security," Bram pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's predictable. Easy to get through once you figure out what routine she's using," Danny responded.

"Ah, yes," Sam mused. "The strange tendency people have to continue doing things that don't work."

Jack flipped his long hair back as he sighed and lowered the poster Tucker had brought, which included a photo of Ember emblazoned on it. "Why is it all the really hot ones want to kill us?"

Everyone stopped and turned to look at the elder Panek brother. He just looked back and forth among their faces with his brows furrowed. "What? What! Don't look at me like that. For a ghost, she's extremely fuckable."

"S'truth," Paul muttered in a light British accent.

"Moving on..." Bram deadpanned. "We really need a way to turn the audience on her. Something to keep them from chanting her name."

"We could always just stop people from showing up at the concert," Jack Fenton piped up, suddenly very enthusiastic for his (predictably) faulty logic. "We can send a message through the PTA and the parents can keep all their kids from going. Then when Ember is isolated we can strike her and tear her to-"

Tucker cut him off with a scoff. "Oh, yeah. That'll fly... Like the Hindenberg."

A devilish grin spread across Danny's face and a very impish laugh rolled out of his throat. Paul knew that expression. Danny didn't get it often, but it meant that he had an idea bouncing around in his skull, one that he was deeply, deeply amused with. "Care to enlighten us, oh spectral one?"

Danny's eyes flashed green a moment before he arched a brow. "You guys still got your Halloween costumes from last year?"

**-x-**

Sam was very curious to see how this would go. The guys had asked her to infiltrate the crowd and pay attention to what was going on. Her job was to make sure she kept as many members of the crowd from chanting Ember's name as possible. They needed to buy some time. Similarly, Jazz was covering another quadrant of the stadium along with the Fenton parents in the other two. As for what it was Danny planned to do... well he was kind of secretive about that. Said it was a surprise.

Despite the fact that Sam wanted to help Danny any way she could, she wasn't particularly fond of this job. All of these people around her... personal space being violated... and holy Jesus crackers, had any of these people ever listened to a band that didn't crack the Billboard Top 40! Their mainstream hive mind was giving off dangerously radioactive levels of lame. As soon as she got back home, she was putting on her 69 Eyes albums and jamming. Perhaps she could also get Danny to do a little striptease for her to the tune of Gothic Girl. Or vice versa. Either one worked.

Argh, focus!

Sam didn't have a lot of time to contemplate those naughty thoughts anyway as the lights dimmed down, and a loud female voice blasted over the speakers. "Hello, babies! Are you ready to rock!"

The crowd erupted in cheers as the woman Sam had seen earlier in the picture appeared in a blast of smoke with a full band. Damn it! Where were the guys?

"Then say my na-" Ember was cut off very abruptly as in a flash, her band disappeared as soon as they had come. Sam couldn't see too well from her distance, but she was close enough to tell Ember was obviously not expecting that. A deep, droning guitar sounded through the speakers, but Ember wasn't playing. She recognized the riff as The Abominable Dr. Phibes by The Misfits. The crowd however, didn't. They got antsy.

As Ember scanned the area looking for the source of this intrusion, Danny and the Phantasmic Four appeared on stage, the Four appearing in face paint and masks. Jack seemed to be going for a werewolf theme and had spirit gummed crepe hair to his arms and face, though given his previous hairiness it wasn't much of a stretch. Bram was shirtless with a mesh mask over a black hood that concealed his face and made him look very menacing. Tucker had done himself up like a cyborg. Paul looked like a ninja and pulled his blonde mullet into a topknot. Danny was in his usual stage clothes. They all had their instruments, and the Panek brothers and Paul were continuing to play the riffs.

A quick blast from Danny's hand and Ember went flying off the stage with a scream.

"Sorry, folks!" Danny called out as he snatched the microphone. "Slight change of plans. We are Danny Phantom and the Phantasmic Four!" The Misfits riff faded away as Danny talked and he turned to his band members and smiled. "Let's rock and friggin' roll, guys!"

Paul tapped out the beat on his drumsticks and immediately, Jack and Bram started up on an energetic riff. Tucker and Paul came in at the repeat. Tucker was playing his synths in a Charlston rhythm.

_Whoa!_

Danny's lengthy howl lasted until the end of the riff. The verse riff was a funky single-note melody with a simple beat underneath, a harmonized bass line, and the Charlston rhythm synths. And that's when the singing came in. Danny put his foot up on the monitor as he sang to the audience, holding the microphone close.

_For ages I've been locked away  
Sitting cold in anguished solitude  
Never giving up my hope as I stare out  
My cell at the Milky Way_

The tone and melody of the lyrics were a little different from the funky riffs, but combined created an interesting atmosphere. Sam looked around to see that some of the crowd was still skeptical, though they seemed to be getting into it. She looked over to where she saw Ember land to find she was being mobbed by a swarm of fans. The other Fentons would have to move quickly before she got her second wind. Sam was equipped with a couple of weapons, but she didn't really fancy her chances on a one-on-one, especially in an area with such high potential for collateral damage.

_I know my chance is swinging back  
They can't hold me with these prison bars  
Round the moon and back again my shooting star  
Is streaking, riding to attack_

Most of the audience was on Danny's side now, but Ember was breaking loose of the fans, and she looked really pissed. Thinking quickly, Sam grabbed up a dropped water bottle from the floor, and let it fly. She had always been a particularly good aim, and trusted on her skill to land the hit she needed.

WHAM!

Right between the eyes. Turns out Danny was right. Ghosts spent most of their time in a solid state. Too bad for Ember. She staggered right back into the hands of her fans in time for the song's pre-chorus to kick in.

_Seize the day  
Fly away_

Some creative drumming from Paul boosted the energy right before the whole band paused for a beat and went into the chorus they had obviously written for audiences to sing along to.

_I'm riding on a shooting star, yeah  
I'm riding on a shooting star  
To freedom on a shooting star, whoa_

The chorus ended with Jack taking a rather funky solo just as Ember broke free of the crowd. Oh hell!

The band continued playing, Tucker hitting a digital recorder to play the rhythm guitar track, while Danny took to the air. Ember flew in, riding her guitar like a surfboard straight for Danny. She was clearly too angry to think straight. Part of Sam wanted to make a really bad pun about Ember's hair and being a "hot head" but... she would have had to kick her own ass at that point. Besides, now was not a good time.

However, much to Sam's (and Ember's) surprise, Danny conjured up a length of ectoplasm like a staff, then smirked, floated aside and held it out. With a wince, Sam watched the rocker ghost get clotheslined right off her guitar and plummet into the mosh pit. She'd be feeling that tomorrow!

Danny landed on stage just in time to take the second verse.

_I'm breaking out, taking off  
Nobody can keep my from my destiny  
I'll fly away, lead the charge  
Cruising through the galaxy_

Same riff, but the vocal melody was much different this time. Much jazzier to reflect the happier mood of the lyrics.

_Takin' a ride through space  
Swingin' around Saturn's rings  
Chasin' comets and suns  
Glidin' on celestial wings_

Danny grabbed his shirt and pretended to rip it off as he sang, holding his arms out like wings, but the fabric dissolved like smoke, meaning he had just morphed the outfit again. This was of course met with a lot of cheers from the girl in the audience (much to Sam's irritation), and Sam herself feeling very turned on.

"Get your hands in the air everybody!" Danny shouted just before the pre-chorus began. "Come on!"

_Seize the day  
Fly away_

_I'm riding on a shooting star, yeah  
I'm riding on a shooting star  
To freedom on a shooting star, whoa_

The music went into a very minimalist bridge and Danny began a spoken word section, looking out over the stage as if into the sky.

_I've danced with Andromeda and played chicken with Taurus. I've seen supernovas and worlds unknown. I am the greatest adventurer in the galaxy! I'm riding on! On to freedom! On my shooting star! Yeah!_

He finished at the same time that Ember finally erupted from the mosh pit, looking very haggard and beaten, while Jack launched into a second solo that was more energetic than the first.

Danny took to the air as well, ready to fight. Sam wasn't entirely sure the audience understood what was going on. They all seemed to think it was a special effects display. Were the people in Amity Park dense or just stupid?

Ember conjured a fireball of purple ecto fire between her hands and launched it at Danny, whatever threat was meant to accompany it drowned out by the music. Danny just held his hands out and caught it, immediately wrapping it in his own green ectoplasm. He tossed it over his head and released the field, causing Ember's attack to fizzle out harmlessly.

He countered quickly with a blast of his own, which she tried in vain to shield herself from. Sam noted that the plume of flame she had for hair was smaller now than when she first appeared.

Ember was knocked for a loop, but still airborne. She made another charge at Danny who simply dodged. She summoned her guitar to her hands, and Danny responded by conjuring up a blade of ectoplasm. They began zooming in at each other, taking one shot and flying away again to repeat the process a second later.

Down below, the band was trying to keep the song going while at the same time pay attention to the battle. Then, the damndest thing happened. Paul pulled out on his extra drumsticks and chucked at Ember as she prepared to attack again. It hit her right where Sam's water bottle had before and put her off her guard. Good ol' Paul!

Danny used the opportunity immediately. He swung his blade out in a wide slash. Ember, still surprised, reacted the instinctive way: she put her guitar between herself and Danny. The guitar wasn't destroyed, but all the strings were cut. It seemed that Danny had planned to do that all along, it was convenient. Ember gasped and recoiled as if the strings had been her own flesh, and using that moment, Danny pulled out his Fenton thermos and sucked her in.

He twirled the thermos around his finger like a gunslinger before setting it against his hip and descending to the stage just as the final pre-chorus began. "Come on, sing it with us!" he shouted to the crowd. Sam was only too happy to oblige.

_Seize the day  
Fly away_

_I'm riding on a shooting star, yeah  
I'm riding on a shooting star  
To freedom on a shooting star, whoa_

The band went into the chorus one more time, his time with Paul playing an open hi-hat to create a bigger sound, and Danny singing higher.

_I'm riding on a shooting star, yeah  
I'm riding on a shooting star  
To freedom on a shooting STAR!_

He hit the final word in a wailing falsetto and held it out to almost the end of the riff. Jack hit one more power chord as he stood back to back with Bram whose fingers danced over the fretboard of his bass as Tucker played a speedy descending melody on his keyboard before the whole band went out on one last note, finishing with a quick tap of Paul's floor toms.

The crowd was raving.

Sam felt so proud of Danny right now. It was the first time she had seen what he was really capable of. She had no idea he was such an adept fighter. True, she had witnessed a few seconds of him thrashing that ghost in the school computer library, but that didn't count. All the girls around screaming and jumping and trying to get his attention certainly got a smirk going across Sam's face. At this moment, her boyfriend was perhaps the most desirable man in Amity Park. And he had chosen her. Come what may, this promised to be an extremely exciting relationship.

"Thank you everybody! Good night!" And with that, the band vanished from the stage.

**-x-**

They arrived back home later that night inconspicuously. Danny didn't want to take a chance on anyone following them. He had morphed his clothes back to normal, but the rest of the group were still in their costumes. "That was epic!" Jack shouted. Whenever he raised his voice, it turned into a bark. It wasn't any conscious thing on his part, it was just the way his voice was, and it really complimented the werewolf costume. "Fuck, I'm still juiced!"

"Man, I gotta go work out," Bram crowed as he pulled off his hood. "The only way I'm gonna get this energy outta me."

"Dude, that was funny as hell how you bonked Ember in the face with your drumstick," Tucker cackled as he slapped Paul on the back.

"Yeah," Paul returned. "The innuendo alone is priceless."

"Typical guy," Sam said jokingly as she walked into the kitchen where the guys had gathered.

"What can we tell ya," Danny answered. "We are men after all."

"Comes with the territory of having a penis," Jack said as if stating the sky were blue.

Everyone laughed at that until Bram glanced at his watch and shook his head. "Damn. We need to go. Don't forget guys, we got a Parkour jam tomorrow at 9 AM sharp. And you know I don't accept excuses." Danny knew that all too well. Bram loved to go on jams. When he had introduced Danny to the idea of Parkour, he thought it was kind of silly. It was a sport with no real competitive aspect, no scoring, and was made entirely of jumping and leaping over and around obstacles. But then he saw Bram, a guy who was 6'7" and all muscle, doing vaults and leaps and flips and rolls and soon changed his mind about it. It wasn't long before the whole band was going on weekly jams through the city for over an hour at a time. And Bram didn't accept any excuse to back out short of the flu, bleeding, or vomiting.

"Mind if I tag along?" Sam asked almost like a challenge.

"Why not?" Bram answered with a shrug. He didn't know what Danny did about Sam's athletic ability. He himself had been surprised to learn just fit her petite figure really was. "See you guys later."

After the rest of the band left, Danny and Sam spent the fifteen blissful minutes making out all the way up to Sam's room. They even slept in her bed, though they didn't have sex. It wasn't exactly the best possible night, though soon...

Danny woke up late in the night to see the blue mist seeping from his nose and mouth. His instincts told him not to panic, though. He slowly slipped out of the bed, glancing back at Sam. She looked so peaceful. Her hair was down and she had a small smile on her lips as she moved over in the bed, seeking out Danny's warmth. He couldn't help but smile himself. He was wearing only a pair of jeans, but didn't care. He looked out the window onto the rooftop across the street. There was the figure he knew would be out there, the one he'd been expecting for months now.

"Wulf."

He phased through the wall and flew out to meet his friend. It had been too long. Something was very wrong, and hopefully Wulf would have some answers for him. When he finally reached the rooftop, his eyes widened. One of his ears was missing and his clothes were tattered. His fur was matted and several patches seemed to have been ripped, maybe even burned off. One of his teeth was missing. The way he favored his left arm indicated it was probably broken. "Wulf... good god, what happened to you?"

"Long story," he muttered, his voice weak. "Need to rest. I'll explain later, just please... hide me."

**-x-**

**Author's Notes:** And Wulf brings in another cliffhanger. Anyway, pretty boy Danny and muscle man Bram both shirtless and rocking out. You guessed it! This one's for the ladies. ;)

I've been thinking and I have a request to my readers. Those of you who frequent YouTube probably know of some of the slick music videos people have been making. I'd like to see a couple videos set to some of the music featured here. I'd love to see a Strange Wings video. Who here would love to see a video set to Through the Fire and Flames by DragonForce? How about a really awesome Ultimate Enemy video set to the music of Devils by The 69 Eyes. Come on people! Let's bring some awesome new music to the YouTube DP crowd!

In the meantime, keep a lookout this week for an update on Ronin as well.


End file.
